Credit raters face the heat for issuing top ratings on complex mortgage related securities. A House investigative panel on Wednesday revealed that internal company documents show executives were aware of the inflated credit ratings.

Major credit rating agencies like Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch, Inc. issued top ratings on a huge number of complex financial securities backed by subprime mortgage loans. These agencies play a vital role in the business arena as investor’s trust in such securities relied on the credit ratings. The high ratings issued on a number of mortgage-related securities backed by subprime mortgage loans convinced people to make huge investments on them. Now these credit agencies have downgraded most of its top rated mortgage-backed securities leaving no market scope for them and putting the investor in dilemma.

Recent studies also reveal that major credit rating agencies contribute a major share in the U.S financial system collapse.