S&P Says It Didn’t ‘Rubber Stamp’ Notes at Bank’s Bidding

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Standard & Poor’s, the ratings company accused of bowing to pressure from an Australian bank to issue its highest rating for notes that lost 94 percent of their value, thoroughly investigated the investment and didn’t just “rubber stamp” the bank’s opinion, a court was told.

S&P was sued along with ABN Amro Bank NV, the Australian affiliate of the Royal Bank of Scotland, by Australian towns over the sale of notes called Rembrandt that plummeted in value during the global financial crisis in 2008.