video transcript

** ROUGH CUT- NO REPORTER NARRATION** Speaker: U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. The Department of Justice in a court filing said it was seeking civil money penalties from Standard & Poor's and McGraw Hill, alleging "considerations regarding fees, market share, profits, and relationships with issuers improperly influence S&P's rating criteria and model." This is the first federal enforcement action against a credit rating agency over alleged illegal behavior tied to the mortgage mess that brought the global economy to its knees. Standard and Poor's responded in anticipation of lawsuit filed late Monday saying: "A DOJ lawsuit would be entirely without factual or legal merit." "The DOJ would be wrong in contending that S&P ratings were motivated by commercial considerations and not issued in good faith."