S&P settles with SEC, 2 states over misconduct charges

NEW YORK - Standard & Poor's agreed on Wednesday to pay the U.S. government and two states more than $77 million to settle charges tied to its ratings of mortgage-backed securities.

In its first enforcement action against a major rating agency, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused S&P of fraudulent misconduct, saying S&P loosened its standards to drum up business in recent years. The agreement requires S&P to pay more than $58 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission, $12 million to New York and $7 million to Massachusetts.

"These settlements involve findings of intentional fraud in 2011 and 2012, well after the financial crisis," said Andrew Ceresney, director of the SEC's enforcement division, on a call with reporters. "The financial crisis may be behind us, but these cases are an important reminder that the race-to-the-bottom behavior exists even though the financial crisis has ended."

S&P said in a statement that it did not admit or deny any of the charges.

It's likely the first of a number of settlements between the ratings agency and government agencies. In 2013, the Justice Department and attorney generals from other states filed civil lawsuits against S&P for misrepresenting risks in the years leading up to the financial crisis.

As part of its agreement with the SEC, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, a division of McGraw Hill Financial, will take a "time out" from rating certain types of mortgage-backed securities for a year.

"This is the first time a major credit rating agency has been subject to a time out," Ceresney said. "It's unprecedented."

Mortgage-backed bonds played a large role in setting off the financial crisis in 2008. During the housing boom, banks bundled risky mortgages into other securities and sold them to investors in slices. Credit rating agencies awarded many of them top ratings, classifying mortgage-bonds among the safest of investments.

But when the housing bubble popped, many of these mortgage securities turned out to be worthless.

S&P, Moody's and Fitch remain the country's largest credit-rating agencies. Asked if the other two were under investigation, Ceresney replied that he couldn't offer specifics. "I can just say that this is an area in which I imagine that there will be future activity," he said.