Brown Launches Investigation into Credit Rating Agencies' Role in Fueling Financial Crisis

Launching an investigation into credit rating agencies' role in fueling the financial crisis, Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today issued subpoenas to Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch to determine whether the firms violated California law when they recklessly gave "stellar ratings to shaky assets."

"Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch put their seal of approval on high risk mortgage-backed securities, recklessly giving stellar ratings to shaky assets that proved toxic to the entire financial system," Brown said. "This investigation is meant to determine how these agencies could get it so wrong and whether they violated California law in the process."