A recent ruling may have large implications for credit rating agencies and the insurance companies that rely upon them to issue corporate debt.
U.S. District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin has ruled that agency ratings were not deserving of broad protection under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The judgment stems from a lawsuit filed in the
The plaintiffs argue that the defendants, which include
Scheindlin's ruling means that the class-action suit can continue.
If the ruling is not overturned, credit rating agencies, which have heretofore enjoyed free-speech protection similar to that granted journalists, may find it harder to argue that their opinions deserve protection under the first amendment.