Commitments and Contingencies

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2011

Commitments and Contingencies [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

13. Commitments and Contingencies

Rental Expense and Lease Obligations

As of June 30, 2011, the remaining deferred gain related to our sale-leaseback transaction with Rock-McGraw, Inc. was $142.0 million as $2.9 million and $5.8 million was amortized during the three and six months ended June 30, 2011, respectively. Interest expense associated with this operating lease for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011 was $1.7 million and $3.3 million, respectively.

     Legal Matters

The following amends the disclosure in Note 13 — Commitments and Contingencies to the Consolidated Financial Statements of our Annual Report.

• In connection with the Parmalat matter, on June 29, 2011, the Court issued its final decision dismissing in its entirety Parmalat’s main damages claim which was based on the value of the bonds issued. The Court ordered S&P to pay Parmalat the sum of approximately euros 784,000 ($1.1 million), representing the amount of ratings fees paid to S&P by Parmalat, plus interest from the date of service of the Writ of Summons. The Court also ordered S&P to reimburse Parmalat for euros 47,390 (less than $0.1 million) in trial costs. The deadline for any party to file an appeal is the earlier of one year and 45 days from the date the judgment was issued or 30 days after any party serves a copy of the judgment on another party.

• In connection with the Reed matter, on May 31, 2011 the Court granted Reed’s motion to file a Second Amended Complaint that, among other things, adds a false advertising claim under the Lanham Act, including a demand for treble damages and attorneys’ fees. The Second Amended Complaint also contains allegations purporting to further support Reed’s existing tort and antitrust claims. On June 3, 2011, the Court granted the Company’s motion to file a counterclaim against Reed alleging, among other things, that Reed misappropriated the Company’s trade secrets and engaged in unfair competition as a result of Reed’s recruitment of former employees of the Company and use of information about the Company’s customers obtained from the former employees to solicit those customers.

• The Company and Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, together with other credit rating agencies, have been named in numerous lawsuits in U.S. State and Federal Courts, as well as in foreign jurisdictions, relating to the ratings activity of Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services brought by alleged purchasers and issuers of rated securities, many of which include novel claims that Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services is an “underwriter” or “seller” of such securities under the Securities Act of 1933. The Company and Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services have also received numerous subpoenas and other government inquiries concerning the rating activity of Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services in these areas and continue to respond to all such requests. Additional actions, investigations or proceedings may be initiated from time to time in the future.

The Company believes that the claims asserted in the proceedings described above have no basis and they will be vigorously defended by the Company and/or the subsidiaries involved.

In view of the inherent difficulty of predicting the outcome of legal matters, particularly where the claimants seek very large or indeterminate damages, or where the cases present novel legal theories, involve a large number of parties or are in early stages of discovery, we cannot state with confidence what the eventual outcome of these pending matters will be, what the timing of the ultimate resolution of these matters will be or what the eventual loss, fines, penalties or impact related to each pending matter may be. We believe, based on our current knowledge, the outcome of the legal actions, proceedings and investigations currently pending should not have a material, adverse effect to the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows.