People v. McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The People, by and through the Attorney General, brought this action against McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., and Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (defendants) for statutory violations arising out of defendants’ alleged business practice of inflating their credit ratings of various structured finance securities. The complaint alleged four causes of action, including two for violations of California’s False Claims Act (Gov. Code, § 12650 et seq.; CFCA). Defendants filed a special motion to strike the CFCA causes of action pursuant to section 425.16, subdivision (b) of the Code of Civil Procedure, the anti-SLAPP statute. The superior court denied the motion on the ground that the People’s enforcement action was exempt from the special motion to strike procedure pursuant to section 425.16, subdivision (d), which provides that “[t]his section shall not apply to any enforcement action brought in the name of the people of the State of California by the Attorney General, district attorney, or city attorney, acting as a public prosecutor.” Defendants filed a notice of appeal.

The People filed a motion to dismiss the appeal, challenging this court’s jurisdiction to review the…