S&P Raises Puffery Defense Against U.S. Ratings Case
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Standard & Poor’s, at the first court hearing over the U.S. government’s claims that the rating service defrauded investors, argued reasonable investors wouldn’t have relied on its “puffery” about credit ratings.
John Keker, a lawyer for the McGraw Hill Financial Inc. unit, today told U.S. District Judge David Carter in Santa Ana, California, that S&P’s generic statements about its business aspirations weren’t material to the banks buying securities and didn’t meaningfully change the mix of information available to investors.