Keeping pace with the growing legions who believe Wall St. firms are going to dodge the regulatory bullet and get back to their old ways, Moody's evidently believes the end of the end-of-the-world panic is synonymous with sweeping the past couple of years under the rug. After the rating agency politely declined an invitation to appear at a panel put on by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to answer a couple questions about their robust ratings process, the insurance community warned Moody's that they plan to debate whether or not to formalize a movement many firms have already effectively embraced.

An official in the New York Insurance Department says insurance regulators from across the country are expected to discuss dropping Moody's Investors Service from a list of acceptable rating organizations at a meeting later this week.

Hearing this, the Moody's team decided it might be in their best interest to attend the session after all. That way there will really be no debate as to whether they're an acceptable rating organization.