Finally, The Right Witch Hunt: The SEC Goes After Moody's

Here is something that not that many people will get all heated about on the Internets but maybe should a little. (The unexcitement, at least, means there’ll be no ridiculous Senate committee hearings!) The SEC has notified the rating agency Moody’s that it believes that Moody’s lied about how it determines credit ratings. Moody’s has responded to the SEC with a big “nuh uh.” Here’s a vague way to say something, courtesy the Times: “Moody’s said its Wall Street Analytics unit was cooperating with an S.E.C. and Department of Justice investigation into services it provided to financial institutions regarding the valuations of some of the financial instruments they held.” And here, courtesy of the Journal, is a very even-handed way to put the larger situation: “The threat of an SEC case is the latest setback for Moody’s, which has been criticized over its failure to properly rate billions of dollars of mortgage-related securities and other complex debt products.” And also! The best part is that their CEO sold off a bunch of his own stock in the company the same day they got the notice from the SEC. Way to be, bro.