The gist of the hearings was questioning whether agencies such as MoodyÆs, Standard PoorÆs and Fitch perhaps improperly inflated their ratings of mortgage-backed securities because of possible conflicts of interest. After all, the argument goes, the agencies simultaneously rated various mortgage-backed securities while offering advice to investment firms about how to package them so as to gain higher credit ratings.
While executives defend themselves in the US, there is also a fleet of top people from these agencies meeting with journalists in Asia hoping to...
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