FINANCIAL TIMES: Standard & Poor’s will be suspended for a year from rating certain commercial mortgage bonds in an $80m settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the attorneys-general in New York and Massachusetts, according to people familiar with the matter.
The agreement is scheduled to be announced on Wednesday, the people added. It will be the toughest penalty yet for the ratings industry, which was blamed along with Wall Street for risky activities that led to the 2008 financial crisis.
But the settlement with the SEC and the attorneys-general focuses on whether S&P eased its standards for six commercial mortgage-backed securities issued in 2011 to gain business… (more)
