Take This Downgrade And Shove It, I Don't Work Here Anymore

Standard and Poor's chairman Deven Sharma has apparently downgraded himself right out of a job.

Sharma, who will take another role in the company before leaving altogether at the end of the year, will be replaced by Citibank's current chief operating officer Douglas Peterson, corporate parent McGraw-Hill said in a statement late Monday.

The US Justice Department is currently investigating the company for its practices regarding mortgage securities that helped trigger the 2008 global financial crisis.

Sharma, 55, "will take on a special assignment working on the company's strategic portfolio review until the end of the year when he will leave the company to pursue other opportunities," the statement read, adding that Peterson, 53, will become the S&P president starting September 12.

Raise your hands if you think that Sharma's departure and the DoJ investigation have nothing to do with each other so I know who not to trust with any important judgment calls.

In all seriousness however, everything you need to know about that is S&P's incoming chairman is Citibank's current COO.  Which of course explains quite a bit.