Moody's Corp. has agreed to pay nearly $864 million to settle U.S. federal and state charges over bond grades it issued to risky mortgage securities in the run-up to the 2008 housing collapse. The agreement marks what is expected to be the last in a series of deals in the waning days of President Barack Obama’s administration closing investigations into the financial crisis.

While Moody’s did not admit to violating the law, the firm did state in the settlement agreement that it, at times, deviated from methodologies it said it would use to rate mortgage bonds and used a more lenient standard on some complicated bonds than it had disclosed.

The Moody’s settlement includes a $437.5 million civil penalty to the Justice Department and $426.3 million to 21 states and the District of Columbia.

Under the pact, Moody’s agreed to maintain multiple policy changes, including separating its commercial and credit-rating functions and exclude analysts from any commercial discussions.

The agreement comes 2 years after Standard & Poor's entered into a $1.375 billion accord with the Justice Department, 19 states and the District of Columbia over similar claims. Standard and Poor's is the world's largest ratings firm, followed by Moody's.