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National Rating Agencies
- Issue: Inflated ratings of mortgage-based securities
Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund, et al. v. Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC, et al.
Lieff Cabraser and co-counsel are assisting Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine in a lawsuit filed against Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch alleging these agencies provided unjustified and inflated ratings of mortgage-backed securities in exchange for lucrative fees from securities issuers.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio, the Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund, the School Employees Retirement System of Ohio and the Ohio Public Employees Deferred Compensation Program, charges that many mortgage-backed securities were given the highest investment-grade credit rating, often referred to as “AAA.” This rating assured institutional investors, including the plaintiff Ohio pension funds, that the investments were extremely safe with a very low risk of default.
The Ohio funds allege that they lost in excess of $457 million in investments in mortgage-backed securities that were improperly rated by the rating agencies.
In September 2011, the U.S. District Court dismissed the case. Plaintiffs have filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit.
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