Follow up to July 8, 2008 posting, SEC Examinations Find Shortcomings in Credit Rating Agencies’ Practices and Disclosure to Investors, today’s article from the WSJ (requires subscription – letter to SEC linked below is available free): S&P Resists SEC Ratings Plan – “Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services pushed back against Securities and Exchange Commission proposals to revamp how bonds are rated, in another sign of the resistance from Wall Street to efforts to overhaul financial markets. In a letter to the SEC, the McGraw-Hill Cos. unit said some of the agency’s proposals are too costly and go beyond its regulatory mandate. (Read the letter.) The SEC is considering a package of proposals to boost the independence and quality of credit ratings. Many critics have complained that ratings firms were too optimistic on mortgage-related investments, partly because they are paid by issuers of bonds that want high ratings.”