Posted on 08/13/2011 3:01:20 PM PDT by NoLibZone
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC ) is now looking into potential insider trading by Standard & Poor's employees before the rating agency's decision to downgrade the U.S.'s long-term debt, according to Financial Times.
The SEC has asked S&P to disclose which employees knew of the downgrade decision before the public announcement, as part of a preliminary examination into potential insider trading.
The examination staff will likely try to decipher whether any person's with knowledge of the decision shorted stocks, or in any way benefitted from the U.S.'s downgrade to AA+ from an AAA credit rating.
The SEC may not be the only organization to take a look at S&P, though. The Senate Banking committee has also begun to look into the decision, according to a committee aide.
Multiple investigations into S&P could cause damage, especially if they come up unfounded. In an interview earlier this week with International Business Times, The Benchmark Company media analyst Edward Atorino does not think a SEC investigation is the wisest move for the United States.
"Mr. Obama could call up the head of the SEC and say get those bastards (at S&P) but I'd imagine that would leak out," Atorino said. "I don't know what they could do; it seems that the government has no recourse. All of the media would come to its aid if it leaked out."
As of yet no media has come racing in to defend McGraw-Hill's rating agency, but that doesn't mean it won't happen at some point.
Atorino admits the government is likely "pissed off," but there was little it could do to an independent ratings agency. Clearly if it can prove that the company's employees are guilty of insider trading it can make a big dent in S&P's reputation, but that at best is in the preliminary stage.
Right now both the SEC and Senate Banking committee could just be doing their due diligence, but the longer and costlier an investigation goes on, the more potential embarrassment for Preside Obama's administration, according to Atorino.
In the end, assuming the SEC charges don't turn up anything, S&P was just doing its job, says Atorino.
"(S&P) didn't do anything illegal or unethical," he said. "(S&P) did what it is supposed to do."
I called this right after the annoucement. Better not do ANYTHING to upset the O-HOLE!!!!
Obama says S and P is off by 2 trillion dollars in their rating of the US.
Obama spent 2 trillion more than he admits.
He hasn’t made any bad moves. This his ‘A Game” and the lefties are going to have to like it...many do...his base is the small but rabid (20 per centers) that want to install a Marxist regime. We are in the middle of a coup...it remains to be seen how spineless the Grand Old Potty will be in coping with it.
“Multiple investigations into S&P could cause damage...”
to the ability of companies to go against the Marxist state-run machine.
The SEC is too busy adding Texas A&M.
Warning to any other ratings companies — do not down grade the US, or else.
Of the ten U.S. ratings agencies, S&P was the third to downgrade the U.S. A Chinese rating agency beat all three to the punch.
Thats funny. Both the big 12 and Obama won’t be around after 2012
Thats funny. Both the big 12 and Obama won’t be around after 2012
I knew once I started seeing the ads for The Longhorn Network, A&M wasn’t going to stand for that.
Is there any evidence to suggest insider trading, or is this instead just Hussein’s revenge fishing expedition?
You have to prove your innocense.
What, they expect the state run media to come to the aid of Standard and Poor’s? Does this guy really believe that? Most of the media is part of the democRAT machine. They worship at the feet of Obama. The SEC should investigate Tim Geithner and George Soros?
FITFLOL
I can’t wait until they find the emails that prove that Standard & Poor’s was actually the entity behind “Fast and Furious” thus vindicating the ATF, DOJ, DHS,..
The downgrade was to create a diversion away from Standard & Poor’s sending guns to Cartels and Marxists.
That’s what I was wondering, I have not seen any news to indicate that.
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