“This is the thing that forces one to ask questions about the role that a company like that can play in our regulatory system,” Hampton Finer, deputy superintendent and chief economist at the New York Insurance Department, said yesterday in a phone interview. “We think there should be discussion about whether Moodys will have its authorization status going forward or having it curtailed in some fashion.”
Finer said he may advocate that regulators throughout the country rely on Moodys competitors to rate securities held by insurance companies. - - - - >

Buffetts firm sold about 7.99 million shares of the ratings company on the open market this week, Omaha, Nebraska- based Berkshire said in a regulatory filing. Berkshire remains Moodys largest shareholder, according to Bloomberg data.
Moodys and rival firms Standard & Poors and Fitch Ratings have been targets of criticism from investors and lawmakers including Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, who says the companies wrongly assigned top credit rankings to subprime-mortgage bonds just before that market collapsed. Buffett himself has said Moodys damaged its brand as - - - - >

The FDIC is concerned that standing behind CIT debt would put taxpayer money at risk because the companys credit quality is worsening, said people familiar with the regulators thinking who declined to be identified because the talks are private. The FDIC has backed $274 billion in bond sales under its Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program since Nov. 25.
“Skadden is one of the principal law firms representing CIT,” Curt Ritter, a spokesman for New York-based CIT, said in an e-mail. “They represent the firm on a wide variety - - - - >

The New York-based financier to small and mid-sized businesses faces a liquidity crisis absent help from the government, according to analysts.
CIT is still awaiting word on whether it will receive funds from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.s Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program, which lets cash-squeezed companies issue government-backed bonds to raise capital at a lower cost. As of June 8, the program has backed $335.4 billion of debt.
FDIC Chairwoman Sheila Bair has said that the program tries to be inclusive but applicants must meet certain requirements. Generally, the program gives preference to companies with high credit ratings or that are considered - - - - >

The FDIC, which has backed $274 billion in bond sales under its Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program since Nov. 25, is concerned that standing behind CIT debt would put taxpayer money at risk, said the people, who declined to be identified because the application process is private.
The federal agency, run by Chairman Sheila Bair, is in discussions with CIT about how the lender can strengthen its financial position to get approval, including raising capital, said one of the people. New York-based CITs measures to improve its credit - - - - >

A credit rating of “Aaa” is the highest possible. It means the agency sees very little risk of the government defaulting on its debt.
Last week Standard & Poors, another ratings agency, raised worries that the United States could lose its “AAA” rating after it warned Britain was at risk for a downgrade. Both the British government and the U.S. government have had their central banks inject billions of dollars into their economies by buying bank assets.
The warning sent the dollar and Treasury prices tumbling last week, because a downgrade would increase borrowing costs and hurt the - - - - >

Ratings agency Moodys downgraded the credit rating for Berkshire and several of the companys insurance subsidiaries.
Moodys says Berkshire and its insurance companies, including National Indemnity and Geico, arent as strong financially because the market value of their investments has fallen. Also, Moodys says the recession hurt Berkshires non-insurance businesses.
“These extraordinary market pressures have reduced the excess cushion available from National Indemnity and the other affected operations to support potential funding needs of the parent company,” Moodys analyst Bruce Ballentine said in a statement.
Moodys also said Berkshires earnings and capital base are volatile because of fluctuations in the value of its - - - - >

Fixed 30-year mortgage rates fell to a record low for the second consecutive week last week, hitting 4.78 percent, Freddie Mac said yesterday in a statement. The rates are the lowest in records dating to 1971, and come after Bernanke told Congress in November that helping the most creditworthy borrowers was essential to reviving the economy.
Mortgage applications in the U.S. rose for the fourth straight week last week as a decline in borrowing costs spurred homeowners to refinance, while purchases of new houses unexpectedly rose in - - - - >

Harvard, the worlds richest school, planned to spend $1 billion yearly for three to four years to upgrade its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and expand across the Charles River in Boston, according to a Moodys Investors Service report. The school now may trim as much as $500 million a year from its plans to help it weather the recession, the report said.
John Longbrake, a university spokesman, confirmed the information in the Moodys report in an e-mail. He said Harvard President Drew Faust earlier suggested capital projects - - - - >

JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank by market value, had its ratings outlook cut by Moodys to negative from stable. Moodys said it will review the long-term debt ratings of Wells Fargo, the second-largest U.S. bank, and Bank of America, ranked third, on concern that higher credit costs may damage capital ratios.
The U.S. economy “deteriorated further” in almost all corners of the nation in the past two months as consumer spending slumped and manufacturing declined, the Federal Reserve said in its regional business survey today. Ten of - - - - >