Free Republic

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...