Unlike rating agency Egan & Co.'s downgrade of U.S. debt three weeks ago, which went virtually unnoticed, Standard & Poor's similar decision last week has resulted in a whirlwind of consequences. 

First, of course, the downgrade led to chaos in the financial markets, with the markets immediately crashing and then gyrating wildly in the days since. It also led members of the Senate to declare that the downgrade was an "irresponsible move" that could have a far-reaching impact, and the Senate Banking committee to begin gathering information about the downgrade with an eye on possibly holding hearings into the matter.

And now, the Financial Times reports today, the SEC has asked S&P to provide it with information on who at the credit rating agency knew of the decision to downgrade US debt before it was announced. The SEC is examining whether insider trading might have occurred in advance of the announcement. FT says that so far, the SEC is not aware of any leaked information or unusual trading activity, but it is exploring the possibility that traders illegally profited off of inside information about the downgrade. As the WSJ reports here, there were many rumors sweeping through trading desks on Friday of an imminent S&P downgrade well before it was announced.