American Fortune Life

In this financial crisis, it can be said that apart from Wall Street bankers, the other one that has been criticized is the credit rating agency, which has been criticized for failing to strictly review credit derivative products, resulting in mixed products.

During this period of rapid real estate development, investors' subprime mortgage transactions amounted to millions of dollars. All are accusing Standard \u0026 Poor's, its main rivals, and other rating agencies of unfair competition due to inherent conflicts of interest in rating many securities with the care of their analysts. Fair competition hurts everyone.

The credibility of international rating agencies began to be questioned after the financial crisis. The Financial Crisis Inquiry Committee even stated in a report that the downgrade of these securities "helped" wipe out nearly 11 trillion US dollars of wealth from American households.

As a result, at this time, Standard \u0026 Poor's was considered by many people in the United States as incapable of conducting constructive dialogues, and did not understand basic economic concepts, and would only spread "lies."

"boom!"

Under the cloudy New York sky, on the lush golf course, Andy, wearing a white T-shirt and white slacks, swung his club. The golf ball he hit drew a beautiful arc in the air and landed on a hillside not far away. superior.

"nice shot!"

"Thank you." Andy closed the shot, with a bright smile on his face, and said to the guests who were clapping and applauding, the new president of Standard \u0026 Poor's, Steven Sharma, who was appointed in the face of danger. Andy handed the club to the caddy carrying the club bag, pressed down the brim of the baseball cap, stepped on the lawn with Steven Sharma, and walked leisurely to the next ball area.

"call--"

"To be honest, I really want to thank you for your invitation. I don't even have time to rest during this period." Although Steven Sharma is not very familiar with Andy Smith, it does not prevent him from using his international wrist to draw closer relationship with each other,

"...we can understand why people question us so much. We understand, although it sometimes feels a little unfair. We have a limited but important role in the market. We bring important benchmark information on credit. If you look In the past record, we rated USD 32 trillion (bonds), of which the “subordinate debt” is only USD 2 trillion. Although everything else is fine, there is a problem with the “subordinate debt”, which we are also very disappointed with .”

Steven Sharma looked into the distance, looked at the vast stadium scenery, continued to talk about the previous topic with great emotion, and also defended the Standard \u0026 Poor's he took over. Although there was no need to explain the defense to Andy Smith, but facing the A new king with a media empire, or a new king who is fighting against the old media empire News Corporation, and has the upper hand, he hopes to get Andy Smith's friendship.

"However, it has to be said that whether it is Moody's, Fitch, or S\u0026P, the rating reports issued by them have a huge influence and directly affect the investment decisions of global investors on national bonds, corporate bonds, etc." He said, sneering at Steven Sharma's excuse in his heart, but this time, after all, he came to ask for help from the other party, so he didn't say anything harsh, otherwise, what he said would become that the three major rating agencies were all involved in housing mortgages. Misleading ratings on lending business!

"Hehe." Andy chuckled and shook his head. He straightened the white half-fingered glove on his right hand while walking, "The financial crisis is over, and the consequences are very serious. The key now is not what you say, but everyone That’s what I think, someone or a company must stand up and take responsibility, and become the chief culprit and scapegoat for this financial turmoil.”

Then, Andy with a bright smile on his face looked at Steven Sharma with a wry smile on his face, and said meaningfully: "Besides, according to some information I got, your S\u0026P is in a dire situation, and many people want to borrow money from you." S\u0026P's items are used by everyone!"

"how can that be?!"

At this time, Divin Sharma's complexion changed drastically, and he was frightened and angry. He didn't doubt the authenticity of Andy's words. When he received Andy's phone invitation,

He has been thinking about the purpose of the other party looking for him, and the final conclusion is that the other party is at war with News Corporation, maybe they need their help from Standard \u0026 Poor's. He was still a little entangled in how to not offend both parties and get Andy's friendship. , decline some too much assists, now it seems that, let alone decline, facing the bait thrown by the opponent, even if he vomits blood, he will eat it.

Andy didn't pay attention to Steven Sharma's shock, but stretched out his hand to build a pergola over his eyes, looked into the distance, and said lightly: "Nothing is impossible...

By the way, as the scope of the phone-hacking incident has gradually expanded, the UK has expanded its judicial investigation into the media-hacking scandal under News Corporation. At the same time, U.S. lawmakers have increased pressure to ask the FBI to investigate whether News Corporation's media outlets have similar misconduct in the United States. What do you think of the predicament facing News Corporation, is it facing "increased commercial and reputational risks"? "

Andy, who suddenly remembered something and was very curious about consulting professionals, made Steven Sharma almost suffocate, but he still had a helpless smile on his face. He had already confirmed that Andy The purpose of Smith's invitation to him was to feel the ruthlessness of the young world's richest man in his heart, but at the same time he had to succumb to the transaction of information useful to them in the hands of the other party.

Steven Sharma thought for a moment quickly, then made a decision, looked at Andy and shook his head with a wry smile: "That's right, as the scope of the phone-hacking incident gradually expanded, our organization conducted a credit evaluation on News Corp. , is not optimistic, and has decided to put the News Corporation BBB+ rating on the negative watch list, but for the sake of safety, we will wait for the development of the situation and do not plan to make it public for the time being.”

"Is the BBB+ rating included in the negative watch list? The business and reputation risks have increased to such a degree, so why not lower the credit rating?" Andy muttered to himself as if he didn't understand.

"Ahem, in fact, this already means that our organization may downgrade News Corporation's credit rating." Steven Sharma raised his harsh comments on Andy to the level of cruelty, and he really wanted to hit News Corporation to death!

"That's it..." Andy's slightly frowned brows stretched out, as if to answer his doubts, he smiled and said to Steven Sharma: "Look at me, sorry, sometimes my thinking is too jumpy, and I often diverge Topic, by the way, just to mention I heard some news, don't know if it's useful to you, it seems that peanuts are being pushed by a lot of people to accuse S\u0026P of inflating mortgage-backed securities ratings and falsely claiming that their ratings have no conflicts of interest. And there is a An investigation alleges that your ratings firm helped spark the financial crisis by giving top ratings to subprime mortgage-backed bonds in order to win business from Wall Street banks."

"This is completely slander..." Upon hearing the news, Steven Sharma's heart skipped a beat, but he wasn't too surprised. He had also received a lot of rumors about this, and it wasn't new, so he wasn't frightened. justified.

It’s just that, just now, Alvitre said indifferently: “Many people in Washington believe that whether S\u0026P decides whether to lower the rating of a company or a country is entirely up to the decision-makers. For example, When evaluating mortgage loans, the report of analysts pointed out that the rating needs to be lowered, but the decision-makers of S \u0026 P cover up the fact and still give a high rating.

If the government finds evidence to support the probe, it would call into question S\u0026P's long-held belief that analysts' assessments are independent of the business. The independent reputation of S \u0026 P analysts is bound to be severely damaged, and it may even lead to civil lawsuits for damages. "

"This..." Steven Sharma's complexion changed slightly, his brows were frowned and he fell into deep thought.

"By the way, Mr. Sharma, has News Corporation really not met the criteria for relegation? I'm really worried..."

Andy's untimely question again made Steven Sharma grit his teeth and make a choice. He looked at Andy with scorching eyes and said: "It is true that we should consider it carefully and be responsible for the financial market and investors. Affected by the wiretapping scandal, News Corp. senior The management team will be weakened, forced to forego strategic business opportunities and possibly alienated by customers. Definitely a credit downgrade!"

"Snapped!"

Andy clapped his hands suddenly, and said with a troubled look on his face: "Look at my brain, I forgot the most important thing. I heard from a friend that the Department of Justice is considering illegally setting up 12 mortgage-backed securities." ratings as a reason to conduct a detailed investigation of S\u0026P."

Steven Sharma's pupils shrank suddenly, and he was startled, but he didn't react in a hurry, but continued to look at Andy, because this news cannot be exchanged for News Corporation's credit rating downgrade. Andy Smith's possible interest.

"By the way, there is another piece of news that may be useful to you, S\u0026P. The White House seems to be drafting a new "Financial Reform Act," requiring the Securities and Exchange Commission to reform the financial sector, including reducing conflicts of interest in the rating industry. Ratings bear corresponding legal responsibilities, reduce investors’ reliance on rating agencies, etc. Government regulators are also required to check various financial regulatory regulations and abolish the relevant clauses of “credit rating reference”.” Andy said with a smile indifferently.

"Hiss—" Steven Sharma couldn't help but gasped in his heart, looked at Andy's eyes brighter and flickered, and said sincerely: "Thank you, thank you very much!"

Andy shook his head and smiled lightly, showing his big white teeth, and his smile became brighter and brighter.

The next day, Standard \u0026 Poor's, one of the three major international rating agencies, warned on the 18th that as the scope of the phone-hacking incident gradually expanded, the company lowered its credit rating on News Corporation's BBB+. . . . . .