Meltdown probe subpoenas documents from Moody’s, saying rating agency ignored earlier request

Meltdown probe subpoenas documents from Moody’s

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan panel investigating the roots of the financial crisis says it has subpoenaed credit rating agency Moody’s Corp.

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission says Moody’s failed to provide documents it requested promptly. It is the commission’s first subpoena.

The FCIC is a bipartisan group created by Congress to examine a range of issues surrounding the financial crisis. It is structured like the group that investigated the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Credit rating agencies like Moody’s have been criticized for giving unrealistically high ratings to complex investments backed by risky mortgages and other assets. When homeowners started defaulting, they downgraded billions of dollars of investments at once. That helped spark the financial crisis.