A PRESTON CLIVE FORECAST After being slapped with almost $80 Million in settlements stemming from a plethora of government investigations related to the legendary ratings agency's loosening of risk-assessment criteria for mortgage-based investments in 2011, S&P is in serious danger of a crisis in investor confidence. As part of the deal reached with the Securities Exchange Commission and investigating attorneys general, S&P must refrain for one full year from rating certain commercial mortgage investment vehicles. That's a bitter pill to swallow, for an agency deeming itself the clearest thinker, the most acute risk-assessor of them all--to be kicked off of the playing field entirely. "This was egregious behavior with significant consequences," said the SEC's director of enforcement, Andrew Ceresny, "(This represented a) deep cultural failure at S&P.[...] Investors rely on credit agencies like Standard & Poor's to play it straight when rating complex securities like CMBS. But (S&P) elevated its own financial interests above investors by loosening its rating criteria to obtain business and then obscuring these changes from investors." Thus the question is: can S&P ever recapture their former illustrious patina of lofty impartiality and profound scholarship? Will they regain the venerable regard they once enjoyed? You, the investor, will decide this by your future decision making.... Preston Clive 1/21/2015***