S&P settles suit over bogus securities rating

NEW YORK – Standard & Poor’s agreed Wednesday to pay the U.S. government and two states more than $77 million to settle charges tied to its ratings of mortgage-backed securities.

In its first enforcement action against a major rating agency, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused S&P of fraudulent misconduct, saying the company loosened standards to drum up business in recent years. The agreement requires S&P to pay more than $58 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission, $12 million to New York and $7 million to Massachusetts.

S&P said in a statement it did not admit or deny any of the charges.

It’s likely the first in a line of settlements between S&P and government agencies. In 2013, the Justice Department and attorneys general from other states filed civil lawsuits against the company for misrepresenting risks in the years leading up to the financial crisis.

As part of its agreement with the SEC, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, a division of McGraw Hill Financial, will take a “time out” from rating certain types of mortgage-backed securities for a year.

Homebuilding in 2014 hits post-boom high

WASHINGTON – Construction of new homes rebounded in December, helping to push activity for the entire year to the highest level since the peak of the housing boom nine years ago.

Builders started construction at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.09 million in December, an increase of 4.4 percent from November, when unusually severe weather pushed activity down a revised 4.5 percent, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

For all of 2014, builders started construction on 1.01 million new homes and apartments, an increase of 8.8 percent from 2013. It was the first time construction has topped 1 million since the height of the housing boom in 2005, when builders started work on 2.07 million homes.

Economists believe the reviving labor market will drive further gains in housing this year.

Kinder Morgan gains Bakken stake in deal

HOUSTON – Kinder Morgan is acquiring oil and gas processing company Hiland Partners in a deal worth $3 billion, including roughly $1 billion in debt.

The deal includes oil-gathering and transportation pipelines, as well as gas-gathering and processing systems for the Bakken Formation in North Dakota and Montana.

The deal is expected to close in the first quarter.