Posted on 01/12/2009 6:48:04 PM PST by TigerLikesRooster
S&P faces EU legal action over fees and angers Spain on rating
Business information group Standard & Poor's reacted strongly yesterday after the European Commission launched a legal action against the company, alleging breaches of EU regulations.
By Roland Gribben
Last Updated: 9:50PM GMT 12 Jan 2009
The Commission stepped in after complaints from asset managers and financial institutions, principally in Germany and France, that S&P may have abused its monopoly position by forcing them to pay licence fees for using numbers identifying US stocks. S&P dismissed the action, saying: "The complaint that prompted this inquiry is without merit."
The news coincided with S&P becoming engulfed in a row with Spain after taking the unprecedented step of withdrawing the country's AAA credit rating.
S&P, part of the McGraw-Hill group, is best known as a credit rating agency but this accounts for only a small part of its business. The operations involved in the EU complaint are said to be tiny but the prospect of an investigation could prove damaging.
The complaint involves the way S&P operates the CUSIP service bureau for the American Bankers Association, which has the sole rights for issuing identifiers for US securities. The unique numbers ensure there is no confusion in clearing and settling trades.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Ping!
Good. Sue S&P for their CUSIP monpoly. S&P sucks. The parent McGraw Hill is very liberal too.
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