Judge Tentatively Lets U.S. Pursue Lawsuit Versus S&P

NEW YORK: A federal judge has made a tentative ruling that would let the U.S. government pursue its $5 billion civil lawsuit accusing Standard & Poor's of defrauding investors by inflating credit ratings prior to the financial crisis.

In a written ruling made public late on Monday, U.S. District Judge David Carter in Santa Ana, Californiasaid the government had sufficiently alleged that S&P's ratings were objectively and subjectively false, and that the rating agency intended to deceive investors.