They are back! The rating agencies (Moody's, S&P And Fitch) who didn't have the good sense to crawl under a rock and die for their part in the 2008 financial crises have returned. After indeterminable testimony before Congress where the CEO's all swore their behavior did not reflect the high ethical standards of the company, the agencies are up to their old tricks. An article on Bloomberg titled Ratings Shopping Revived in Asset-Backed Rebound discussed the fact that the rating agencies seem to be selling their expertise again to the highest bidder. The quote below is from the article and sums it up rather neatly;

 “Imagine the pharmaceutical industry having six FDAs, all competing to approve drugs,” said Rob Dobilas, who founded Realpoint LLC, the credit-rating company bought by Morningstar Inc. in 2010, referring to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “Everyone would be dead.”

The rating companies like to hide behind the bogus theory that they provide some kind of objective evaluation on securities when they are in the business of selling their ratings for money. I have news for the CEO"S who testified before Congress, their egregious behavior was exactly who they are. Their behavior reflected their ethics and standards perfectly.