McGraw-Hill

During Friday's hearings in Washington, ex-employees of Standard & Poors and Moody's told a dark, detailed tale of how the ratings agencies produced inflated ratings. The biggest factor: "The threat of losing business to competitor rating agencies."

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs released scads of new documents that show the behind-the-scenes pressure on ratings analysts to maintain market share by keeping banks happy. The revelations are indeed telling.

Bond sales surged 41% to $1.2 trillion last year as companies rushed to take advantage of thawing credit markets. That means demand for ratings has also boomed, and both Moody's and S&P delivered solid results recently. But that doesn't mean all the damage to their names has been undone.

The global information provider is coming off a tumultuous year that saw CEO Harold McGraw III execute the sale of BusinessWeek to Bloomberg and a major corporate reorg.

AIG (AIG) CEO Robert Benmosche has threatened to step down from the top job only three months after taking it as he struggles to deal with heavy government oversight and restrictions on pay to employees, according to the Wall Street Journal. Shares declined over 1.5% in premarket trading. UPS...

First Portfolio, the business magazine launched just two years ago by publishing giant Conde Nast, folded. Then, the largest business magazine in America, BusinessWeek, was sold by its parent company, McGraw-Hill (MHP), to Bloomberg for as little as $3 million plus its subscription liabilities....

BusinessWeek has found a new home, and its identity comes as no surprise. Bloomberg LP, the financial news and information giant, has agreed to buy the 80-year-old business magazine after a public sale process that lasted throughout the summer. In announcing the acquisition, Bloomberg president...