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What does a bank's credit rating really tell us?

Mar 21, 2023
Credit rating agency Moody's had given Silicon Valley Bank a high rating — right up until it failed.
A sign for Moody's rating agencyat the company headquarters. Credit rating firms gave high marks to SBV and Signature Bank before collapsing.
Emmanuel Dunand/AFP via Getty Images

The big US banks get hit with a ratings downgrade

Dec 3, 2015
But that's not necessarily bad news for the economy—or even for the banks.

What's changed in the credit ratings business?

Feb 3, 2015
"Transformed" industry has more regulatory oversight and internal safeguards.

The Talking Heads, DOJ and S&P

Feb 5, 2013
The Justice Department files suit against S&P and its rating of mortgage-backed securities, citing the band Talking Heads in complaint.

Rating agencies: No longer the final word

Jun 11, 2012
The ratings agency Moody's could lower credit ratings on the bonds of several U.S. banks this month. The downgrades could send ripples, but not shock waves, throughout the economy.

Fitch downgrades major banks

Dec 16, 2011
Ratings agency Fitch has downgraded major banks like Goldman Sachs and Bank of America, but the credibility of such agencies is also waning.

The danger of relying on ratings agencies

Dec 8, 2011
As economic turmoil continues in Europe, leaders there -- and here in the U.S. -- are weary of the blind reliance on ratings agencies to value debt.

For public good, not for profit.

Do the ratings agencies need a downgrade?

Dec 8, 2011
Europe and the U.S. are both exploring new options for judging the value of debt after increasing threats of downgrade from agencies like S&P and Moody's.

MID-DAY UPDATE: Businesses laid off more workers in August

Sep 1, 2010
...That's the opposite of expected - what's it mean? Another ratings agency escapes fraud charges For CEOs, it may pay to lay off A big whopper:...

MID-DAY UPDATE: Economic news bad. Stock prices good.

Jul 22, 2010
/**/ Sales of previously occupied homes fell in June; new unemployment benefit plans rose. Yet at this writing, Wall Street's jumping. What d...