The same ratings firm that held the United States hostage to its debt demands and gave the thumbs up to toxic mortgage assets is again in the news for bungling things. Standard & Poor’s accidentally announced a downgrade Thursday of France’s AAA credit rating.

S&P is investigating the false announcement.

With all these foul-ups, one wonders what rating Standard & Poor’s would get if someone bothered to evaluate the raters, themselves. — PZS

BBC:

Standard & Poor’s accidentally released a message to some of its subscribers on Thursday saying that it had downgraded French debt from its top AAA rating.

S&P said it was investigating what had gone wrong and stressed that France still had an AAA rating.

The French market regulator AMF said it was also investigating how the error could have happened.

Read more

Your support is crucial...

As we navigate an uncertain 2025, with a new administration questioning press freedoms, the risks are clear: our ability to report freely is under threat.

Your tax-deductible donation enables us to dig deeper, delivering fearless investigative reporting and analysis that exposes the reality beneath the headlines — without compromise.

Now is the time to take action. Stand with our courageous journalists. Donate today to protect a free press, uphold democracy and uncover the stories that need to be told.

SUPPORT TRUTHDIG