Benzinga's Political Round Up, August 24, 2011

Moody's downgraded Japan's credit rating to Aa3 from Aa2, citing "large budget deficits and the build-up in Japanese government debt since the 2009 global recession."

Angela Merkel rejected claims that Greece should provide collateral for its bailout.

New York AG Eric Schneiderman has been removed from a committee of state attorney generals negotiating with banks like Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), J.P. Morgan (NYSE: JPM), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), Citigroup (NYSE: C) and Ally Financial over their foreclosure practices.