The president of ratings agency Standard & Poor's is stepping down just weeks after the credit rating agency cut the US' top 'AAA' rating and sent global markets into turmoil.
US officials lashed out at S&P after it docked the country's credit rating from 'AAA' to 'AA+' - accusing the agency of committing a trillion-dollar mathematical error and of using a faulty baseline.
S&P has stood by its analysis, insisting the management change had been planned for months.
Outgoing president Deven Sharma will be replaced by Douglas Peterson, a top executive at Citigroup, the company said.