Hey, it's not like anyone is going to jail for this obvious MULTI-TRILLION DOLLAR fraud.

Cause they're not. Not a single one.

Nada.

Enjoy being a Third World Banana Republic.

Either way, you won't see a resolution for at least 10 years, given the stakes.

Cue the trolls linking this to S&P downgrade of U.S. Credit rating in 5..4..3..

@1, I'd like someone to go to jail but at least someone is saying, "Oh Hell No!" to the $100m fine S&P was willing to pay in a negotiated, admit no fault or wrong doing, settlement.

This is actually a pretty big deal. Of course S&P's ratings were incorrect, but the firm was always protected because they were "opinion" shielded by the First Amendment, just like any darling beardo's blog would be.

The gist of this is that the evidence is showing S&P's changed its published "opinions" solely to improve S&P's own business prospects. If they lose the First Amendment protections the DOJ is just the start - that leaves them open to investor suits. That 's what has S&P shitting itself right now.

All credit for the little I may (or may not) know about this goes to Calculated Risk. Tanta vive!

These villains, along with their rating-agency partners in crime Moody's and Fitch, were the prime enablers of the global financial meltdown, and in a remotely fair world a bunch of their executives would have been put in the slammer several years ago (along with local former WaMu CEO Kerry Killian). Basically they were repeatedly handed pallet-loads of bricks spray-painted gold to rate, and continually told the global financial world that they were 24-karat gold, raking in billions in the process. If they had done their job honestly, none of the financial crisis could have happened.

The arbitrary nature of credit ratings makes it comparable to the manner in which coffee varieties or wines are graded. Why anybody treats them as some sort of statement of objective fact, I do not know. There's even a caveat given by the credit agency that warns against using credit ratings as a guide to investment, written right on the certificate when issued.

The real problem is not the credit rating agencies themselves-they're easily corrupted in the same way any judge of arbitrary quality is easily corrupted. The problem lies in our acceptance of credit ratings as if they were some gold-standard scientific measurement.

No matter what happens or doesn't happen to the evildoers, this is one of the many differences between the Obama administration and the Bush administration: Obama's DOJ actually brought a case.

Workaday world? Quit bragging about being employed, man. Not cool!

I believe the groundwork for this case was achieved by an Australian lawyer on behalf of several local government and public authorities who were taken for the same ride. Below is a link to an excellent story about how it was done. http://www.theglobalmail.org/feature/the…

Here's my naive comment: How about we withdraw their credibility by ignoring their "expert" opinions from now on? What kind of power have we actually given these agencies?

My guess is that the answer will be that they've rigged the game so that we have no choice but to listen to their oracles.

It's too good to think that the CEO's will lose their careers and go to jail, in addition to forfeiting their fortunes. Oh, I can dream.

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@7 "let's look forward, not backward" Obama? C'mon, Sarah: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/…