As trickle down economics brought the Republican financial collapse to a head in 2008, it became clear that the stellar ratings for mortgage backed derivatives were as bogus as the derivatives themselves. The rating agencies claimed that a few incompetent analysts were the cause. If there was any corruption, they said, it was a few bad apples at the analyst level. I didn’t believe them then, and there’s a better reason not to believe them now, as Suzie Madrak reveals.

Anyone with half a brain knows that the ratings agencies (and not just Moody’s) were deeply involved in covering up the whole industry built around toxic derivatives. My question, as always, is: What is anyone going to do about it? Is anyone at the top of this crappy pyramid scheme ever going to jail? WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An ex-Moody’s Corp derivatives analyst said the credit-rating agency intimidated and pressured analysts to issue glowing ratings of toxic complex, structured mortgage securities. In a 78-page letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission, William Harrington outlined how the committees that make the ratings decisions are not independent and how managers often intimidated analysts. "The management of Moody’s, the management of Moody’s Corporation and the board of Moody’s Corporation are squarely responsible for the poor quality of previous Moody’s opinions that ushered in the financial crisis," he wrote. … [emphasis original]

Inserted from <Crooks and Liars>

There can be no doubt that Moody’s, at least, cooked the books. Since all three companies gave the same glowing ratings on the same worthless paper, we can safely conjecture that all three cooked the books in cahoots with the Banksters who scammed unsuspecting investors.