“The world’s top credit agencies are dumping claims that their research is “independent” in a shift that follows accusations of bias and allegations that their faulty ratings helped trigger the worst financial crisis in living memory. According to an academic paper from Harvard Business School, McGraw Hill’s Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s, the two largest ratings agencies, have all but culled claims about the independence of their research from the documents they must file with the US’s SEC. Trillions of dollars worth of debt are issued by companies, cities and countries looking to raise money each year. Between them S&P and Moody’s accounted for over 83% of the ratings issued.”
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/apr/09/credit-agencies-rejecting-claims-independent-harvard