Lawmaker seeks group liability for rating agencies

A key House lawmaker wants to make credit rating agencies — widely criticized for failing to give investors adequate warning of the risks in subprime mortgage securities that triggered the financial crisis — collectively liable for inaccuracies. Pennsylvania Democrat Paul Kanjorski's new draft bill includes a plan meant to address what critics contend is the crux of the current system's problem: companies that issue securities — as opposed to investors — pay the agencies for ratings of those securities.