Moody's went so far as to promote those employees who gave the highest marks to the most qualifications and rebuke those who questioned the legality and ethics behind the new structure (Hall , 2009). According to Mark Froeba, senior vice president of Moody's Structured Finance Group, Moody's (the spin-off of Dun & Bradstreet) began operations in 2000 and, from day one, its goal has been to transform the culture from a conservative, based on accuracy and quality to a culture based on precision and quality. dishonest and business-friendly culture (Hall, 2009). It's not uncommon for ratings to change over time, but it's rare for AAA ratings to change to junk the next day. Moody's profits soared from 2000 to 2006 because it would price securities as investment banks wanted to see them, and most were backed by unfavorable mortgages (Hall, 2009). As a result of the collapse of the subprime mortgage market, credit rating agencies, such as Moody's, were forced to downgrade many of the high-risk home mortgage securities (Levin, n.d.). This was a major shock to global finance