U.S. may sue S&P over mortgage ratings MORTGAGESU.S. expected to sue S&PThe federal government is expected to file civil charges against Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, alleging that it improperly gave high ratings to mortgage debt that later plunged in value and helped fuel the 2008 financial crisis. The charges would mark the first enforcement action the government has taken against a major rating agency involving the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. S&P said Monday that the Justice Department had informed the rating agency that it intends to file a civil lawsuit focusing on S&P's ratings of mortgage debt in 2007. Critics have long complained about the government's failure to bring criminal charges against any major Wall Street players involved in the financial crisis. S&P, Moody's and Fitch Ratings, the third major rating agency, have been blamed for helping fuel the financial crisis by assigning triple-A ratings to trillions of dollars in risky securities backed by subprime mortgages. Windows 8 was designed to win back customers moving to Apple's iPad and tablets with Google's Android software, making it critical that Microsoft's hardware partners offer compelling touch-screen devices.