Moody’s Investors Service, Moody’s Analytics, and their parent, Moody’s, have reached a nearly $864 million settlement agreement with the Department of Justice, 21 states, and the District of Columbia to resolve allegations arising from Moody’s role in providing credit ratings for residential mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations.
The settlement includes a $437.5 million federal civil penalty—the second largest payment of this type ever made to the federal government by a ratings agency. The remainder will be distributed among the settlement member states in alignment with terms of the agreement.
