WASHINGTON – Angered by what it viewed as foot dragging, a panel investigating the nation’s financial crisis issued a subpoena Wednesday to compel Moody’s Corp. to provide information.

It was the first such subpoena issued by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, days before Moody’s chief Ray McDaniel is scheduled to appear Friday before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

Commission Chairman Phil Angelides accused Moody’s of “failing to comply with a request for documents in a timely manner.”

Their subpoena follows a Monday news conference by California Attorney General Jerry Brown to announce court action against Moody’s to compel the company to comply with a subpoena he issued seven months ago.

Moody’s is under pressure to explain its role in providing the investment grade ratings to complex financial deals backed by U.S. mortgages that proved to be anything but investment grade. These deals helped deepen the nation’s housing crisis, which provoked the broader financial crisis.

 

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