The US government is taking ratings agency Standard & Poor’s to court over the toxic subprime sludge given gold-plated ratings in the run-up to the financial crisis. The Department for Justice today launched a civil claim against S&P and parent McGraw-Hill over its rating of mortgage bonds and is seeking a huge fine. The move marks the first enforcement action against a credit rating agency over alleged illegal behaviour tied to the financial crisis and could trigger a wave of lawsuits from other investors. A civil claim has a lower burden of proof, increasing the chances of a result. The lawsuit said: ... (full story)