More shocking news about the inept rating agencies:
“The agencies rated billions of dollars worth of these bonds, mostly in the last two years. With shocking rapidity, even some of those triple A-rated bonds have defaulted. Of the more than $85 billion of re-remics issued since 2009, an estimated $30 billion may be under review by S.&P., according to Bloomberg News . . .
As everyone knows by now, the credit ratings agencies played an enormous role in creating the conditions that led to the financial crisis. Their willingness to slap triple-A ratings on all manner of Wall Street-engineered mortgage rot was enormously lucrative for the raters, but a disaster for the global economy.
Unfortunately, as the episode in December shows, the credit ratings agencies are still struggling to get it right.”
Go figure. The corrupt, incompetent and simply lousy rating agencies are unable to accurately perform their core function: To accurately assess bonds.
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Source:
Postcrisis, a Struggle Over Mortgage Bond Ratings
JESSE EISINGER
PROPUBLICA, JANUARY 5, 2011
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/after-financial-crisis-a-struggle-over-rating-mortgage-bonds/
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