Article: The Bizz, Sept. 18

California attorney general to probe credit rating agencies

California's attorney general is launching an investigation into Wall Street's big credit rating agencies to determine what role they may have played in the collapse of the financial markets.

Attorney General Jerry Brown says he has issued subpoenas to Standard & Poor's, Moody's Investors Service and Fitch Ratings to determine whether they violated state law in "recklessly giving stellar ratings to shaky assets."

Brown says the agencies either ignored or didn't understand the risks of the debt they rated.

The probe, announced Thursday, comes after the California Public Employees' Retirement System sued the agencies, blaming them for ...

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