S&P to pay US$77m to settle US SEC, state charges over ratings

[WASHINGTON] Credit-rating agency Standard & Poor's will pay US$77 million to settle a series of civil charges over what US and state regulators allege to be "fraudulent misconduct" in how it rated certain commercial mortgage-backed securities.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission, in its first case against one of the big three raters, said S&P will pay US$58 million to settle a pair of three cases with the agency, plus an additional US$19 million to settle with the attorneys general of New York and Massachusetts.

The SEC also charged former S&P executive Barbara Duka, in a related case. Ms Duka is planning to contest the charges in an SEC administrative court.

REUTERS