RiskMetrics, the parent company of proxy advisor Institutional Services (which I critiqued in the paper discussed here on the Glom), recently published two studies on the subprime crisis.  The first, unsurprisingly, indicates that if financial firms would have followed their governance advice by putting in place their package of good governance provisions, "the stronger provisions might have mitigated investor risk".  The second deals with subprime litigation.  RiskMetrics notes that

as of early April 2008, there were at least 67 subprime related securities class actions, targeting underwriting firms, investment managers, home builders, and mortgage lenders. Furthermore, the litigation wave has spread beyond companies with direct ties to the traditional subprime related fields, and is now hitting companies facing issues concerning valuation of subprime related assets such as asset-backed securities held as investments or cash equivalents by the company.

One would think that RiskMetrics, which sells a full package of risk management services along with its corporate governance advice, was made for this market.  However, RiskMetrics has struggled since its January IPO (compared here with the S&P 500):

The irony of RiskMetrics' performance is that the explanation for its stock's poor performance is based on "investor concerns over its business with Bear Stearns Cos."

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