Moody’s Pleads Guilty to Obstruction Charges

Credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service Inc. pleaded guilty to a criminal charge stemming from the destruction of documents during a 1996 antitrust probe, the Justice Department said. The department filed a single felony count against the company, a subsidiary of Moody’s Corp., in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, alleging obstruction of justice. Moody’s said in a statement after the plea agreement was filed that three company executives had resigned in connection with the case. But the company said the charge and the settlement “are not related in any way to the company’s credit ratings, analyses, risk management or any other services it markets to customers worldwide.”