UPDATE 1-Moody's names structured finance, credit chiefs

NEW YORK, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Moody's Investors Service, criticized for fueling the global credit crisis by inflating debt ratings, on Thursday named Andrew Kimball head of structured finance, and Richard Cantor chief credit officer and chairman of the credit policy committee.

Kimball, 59, had been named acting structured finance chief in July, replacing Noel Kirnon, who left the company.

Cantor, 51, was at the same time named acting chief credit officer, replacing Kimball. He was previously managing director of credit policy research.

Michel Madelain, chief operating officer of Moody's Investors Service, said Kimball and Cantor will be integral in the agency's efforts, "to enhance the transparency and quality of our ratings."

Moody's Investors Service is a unit of New York-based Moody's Corp (MCO.N), whose largest investor is Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N)(BRKb.N).

Critics of Moody's, McGraw-Hill Cos Inc's (MHP.N) Standard & Poor's and Fimalac SA's (LBCP.PA) Fitch Ratings have accused them of fueling the credit crisis by wrongly assigning high ratings to structured debt, including debt tied to risky mortgages, in the hope of winning fees from issuers.

Moody's also disciplined some employees for considering improper issues in assigning "Aaa" ratings to complex European products known as constant proportion debt obligations. It had earlier begun a probe into whether it knew the ratings were too high, but did nothing about them for nearly a year.

In May, Moody's appointed Madelain to replace Brian Clarkson, who had driven the agency's expansion into structured finance.

Moody's shares closed Thursday up $3.04, or 15.9 percent, at $22.15 on the New York Stock Exchange. The shares have fallen 38 percent this year, while McGraw-Hill shares are down 43 percent over that period. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Andre Grenon)