Coming to terms: Ratings firm Standard & Poor’s will pay $1.5 billion to resolve a series of lawsuits over its ratings on mortgage securities that soured in the runup to the 2008 financial crisis, the company announced this morning. As Reuters reports, the settlement comes after more than two years of litigation as S&P fought allegations it issued overly rosy ratings in order to win more business. S&P parent McGraw Hill Financial Inc. says it will pay $687.5 million to the U.S. Department of Justice, and $687.5 million to 19 states and the District of Columbia, which had filed similar lawsuits over the ratings. S&P admits no wrongdoing in the settlement. Read the full story.
A glass half full: American history is littered with oil busts that created big winners and losers. Now, as the cracks appear in the latest energy boom, the forces of failure and opportunity are stirring again. As The New York Times reports, companies that borrowed during the boom are among those in an endgame that is being played up and down Wall Street and in the vast oil fields that new drilling methods have opened in recent years. “It is a struggle that could take place at scores of other companies, leading to thousands of layoffs, as well as losses for banks and investors. At the same time, new fortunes stand to be made,” The Times reports. Read the full story.
Out of this world: The United States government has taken a preliminary step to encourage commercial development of the moon. According to documents obtained by Reuters, U.S. companies can stake claims to lunar territory through an existing licensing process for space launches. The Federal Aviation Administration, in a previously undisclosed late December letter to Bigelow Aerospace, says the agency intends to “leverage the FAA’s existing launch licensing authority to encourage private sector investments in space systems by ensuring that commercial activities can be conducted on a non-interference basis.” Read the full story.
