Credit agencies slammed over mortgage crisis

For the big three credit rating agencies, growing criticism this past week that their ratings systems are flawed must have sounded like a familiar refrain.

Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s Investors Service, and Fitch Ratings are being criticised by government officials and some investor groups for not identifying weakness in sub-prime mortgage-backed securities before they went sour and contributed to massive loss in financial firms and, in turn, the stock market.