S&P fined 1.5 billion for downgrading the US

[DFF]

You can't make this stuff up.

Remember when S&P forgot for a second that it lives in a world of pretend free speech, and where telling the truth would promptly result in a lawsuit by none other than the US government under false pretenses (and from which Buffett darling Moody's was excluded) after it downgraded the US from AAA to AA+ in the summer of 2011? A downgrade which as Bloomberg previously reported led to this exchange with then Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner: "S&P’s conduct would be looked at very carefully," Geithner told McGraw according to the filing. "Such behavior would not occur, he said, without a response from the government."

Well, S&P will never make the same mistake again, because according to Reuters, it will cost it $1.5 billion to settle with the government and put the whole "downgrade" episode in the past.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-0...-sp-15-billion

[Ronin Truth]

Fed gov fined 200 trillion $ for creating the need for the S&P to downgrade.

[specsaregood]

You can't make this stuff up.

Remember when S&P forgot for a second that it lives in a world of pretend free speech, and where telling the truth would promptly result in a lawsuit by none other than the US government under false pretenses (and from which Buffett darling Moody's was excluded) after it downgraded the US from AAA to AA+ in the summer of 2011? A downgrade which as Bloomberg previously reported led to this exchange with then Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner: "S&P’s conduct would be looked at very carefully," Geithner told McGraw according to the filing. "Such behavior would not occur, he said, without a response from the government."

Well, S&P will never make the same mistake again, because according to Reuters, it will cost it $1.5 billion to settle with the government and put the whole "downgrade" episode in the past.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-0...-sp-15-billion

For some reason zerohedge didn't include the link to the source article, so I had to go search myself. Lo and behold that the settlement had nothing to do with the S&P downgrade of the US.
http://fortune.com/2015/01/20/sp-may...ating-lawsuit/

It actually has to do with them being sued for inflating the credit ratings of mortgages --so basically the opposite.

(REUTERS) – Standard and Poor’s is in talks to pay as much as $1.5 billion to settle U.S. government lawsuits over mortgage ratings issued in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

The settlement of civil fraud litigation may be reached as soon as this month, two people familiar with the matter said.

S&P, a unit of McGraw Hill Financial ( MHFI -0.46% ) , is trying to resolve lawsuits filed by the U.S. Department of Justice and more than a dozen states that accused it of inflating credit ratings to win more business from issuers.

It had previously been expected to pay slightly more than $1 billion to settle, another person familiar with the matter told Reuters last week. The final amount could fluctuate as more states sign on, that person said.

In a civil fraud lawsuit filed in February 2013, the Justice Department claimed that investors lost billions of dollars after buying mortgage-backed debt whose risks had been misrepresented by S&P.

[Dforkus]

You can't make this stuff up.



http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-0...-sp-15-billion

On the free speech aspect of the case, it seems troubling, the SandP should be able to issue whatever calls they want..

Now, from an investor perspective, that call in Sep 2011: was a HORRIBLE call. They downgraded US debt, not unlike downgrading an equity, and US debt rallied...

[acptulsa]

You can't make this stuff up.

Somebody can...

Lo and behold that the settlement had nothing to do with the S&P downgrade of the US.

There may be a sucker born every minute. But that doesn't mean they hang out here.

[specsaregood]

There may be a sucker born every minute. But that doesn't mean they hang out here.

the problem with only reporting/noting the conspiracy angle is when you start spouting that off to others outside the realm of rpf; you get the official story thrown in your face. it benefits everyone to know both sides of the story.

[Madison320]

For some reason zerohedge didn't include the link to the source article, so I had to go search myself. Lo and behold that the settlement had nothing to do with the S&P downgrade of the US.
http://fortune.com/2015/01/20/sp-may...ating-lawsuit/

It actually has to do with them being sued for inflating the credit ratings of mortgages --so basically the opposite.

Really? You think the US govt would actually come right out and say they were punishing S&P for downgrading US debt?

The US govt was encouraging sub prime loans. Now they are punishing people for it.

[specsaregood]

Really? You think the US govt would actually come right out and say they were punishing S&P for downgrading US debt?

The US govt was encouraging sub prime loans. Now they are punishing people for it.

Incentive or ulterior motives aside, the fact is the thread title, "S&P fined 1.5 billion for downgrading the US " is incorrect. That had nothing do with the fine. You could argue that is the reason the fine/court cases were actually pursued but it is not the reason for the fine itself.

[Madison320]

Incentive or ulterior motives aside, the fact is the thread title, "S&P fined 1.5 billion for downgrading the US " is incorrect. That had nothing do with the fine. You could argue that is the reason the fine/court cases were actually pursued but it is not the reason for the fine itself.

It's not the stated reason, but it's the real reason.

[jj-]

Incentive or ulterior motives aside, the fact is the thread title, "S&P fined 1.5 billion for downgrading the US " is incorrect. That had nothing do with the fine. You could argue that is the reason the fine/court cases were actually pursued but it is not the reason for the fine itself.

If the reason the government pursued that case was the downgrade, then I think the title is accurate.

If I kill somebody, do they die because the bullet impacted their heads, but not because I pulled the trigger?

[Chester Copperpot]

I agree with the premise of this thread that the ulterior motive of the govt was to punish for the downgrade but the thread title is not accurate and should be changed. Somebody should just add (ulterior motive) into the title or something