Yesterday, Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) Chairman Phil Angelides and Vice Chairman Bill Thomas announced that the FCIC issued a subpoena to Moody’s Corporation for "failing to comply with a request for documents in a timely manner." The FCIC said that the "failure to comply with a Commission request is viewed with the utmost seriousness, as the Commission will not be deterred from getting desired information."

Yesterday's subpoena was the first such subpoena issued by the FCIC, which was acting pursuant to authority granted by Section 5 of the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009, which was enacted in May 2009. The bi-partisan 10 member FCIC was established to investigate the causes of the financial crisis and the collapse of major financial institutions.