标准普尔重组之际面临重罚

    信用评级机构标准普尔（Standard & Poor's）在周一的声明中表示，它可能将遭到美国证券交易委员会（The Securities and Exchange Commission）的正式起诉。

    标准普尔母公司麦格劳-希尔（McGraw-Hill）于上周四收到美国证交会发出的“韦尔斯通知”（Wells Notice）。通知称，委员会可能会因标准普尔在2007年对一只债务抵押债券进行评级时涉嫌违反证券法的行为开出罚单。

    麦格劳-希尔公司在声明中表示：“标准普尔在这个问题上一直与美国证交会保持合作，并愿意继续予以配合。”

    标准普尔的发言人则未就此作进一步评论。

    这宗受到质疑的Delphinus CDO 2007-1债务抵押债券交易当时由瑞穗国际（Mizuho International）出面安排，并由特拉华投资公司（Delaware Investments）担任抵押品管理人。标准普尔于2007年对这只主要受次级抵押贷款支持的债券给出AAA的高质量评级，但最终于2008年底将该债券的评级调降至垃圾级。如果美国证交会最终决定提起起诉，则可能会对标准普尔处以民事罚款、非法所得费用赔偿或寻求其他适当的衡平法救济。

    美国证交会近期对金融危机时期出现违约的抵押债券交易所开展了一系列调查，这是其中最新的一次行动。本月早些时候，华尔街日报（Wall Street Journal）报道称，花旗集团（Citigroup）和瑞信（Credit Suisse）正与美国证交会进行商谈，以了结这两家公司在2007年10亿美元债务抵押债券中所扮演角色地相关指控。摩根大通（JP Morgan）于今年早些时候支付了1.54亿美元，以了结与一宗问题抵押贷款债券交易相关的民事指控。

    “韦尔斯通知”并非正式指控或不法行为认定，接到通知的一方可以设法说服美国证交会放弃提起诉讼。该通知也并不意味着美国证交会将采取任何实际行动。委员会曾于去年5月对另一家信用评级机构穆迪（Moody's）发出通知，表示穆迪的登记声明由于违反公司政策而“被认为虚假和具有误导性”。该诉讼最终被撤回。

    麦格劳-希尔在接到美国证交会通知的时候，正处于重组变革之际。这家富有传奇色彩的教育出版商计划在2012年底之前拆分为两家上市公司McGraw-Hill Markets和McGraw-Hill Education。前者下辖标准普尔、标准普尔指数业务以及全球市场研究和服务公司J.D. Power and Associates，后者则将统领教育服务业务。

    据报道，标准普尔和穆迪都因它们在最近信用危机中所扮演的角色正在接受美国司法部（the Department of Justice）的调查。

    标准普尔最近还因宣布将美国主权信用评级由AAA下调至AA+而处于风口浪尖。主导美国评级下调的标准普尔总裁蒂文•沙玛随后离职，并由花旗银行首席运营官道格拉斯•彼得森接任。

    The Securities and Exchange Commission may take formal action against the credit rating agency Standard & Poor's, the company said in a statement Monday.

    McGraw-Hill, the parent company of S&P, received a so-called Wells Notice from the SEC last Thursday, which said that the commission could fine the company for alleged securities violations related to a 2007 collateralized debt obligation deal that S&P rated.

    "S&P has been cooperating with the commission in this matter and intends to continue to do so," McGraw-Hill said in the statement.

    An S&P spokesman did not offer further comment.

    The CDO deal in question, known as Delphinus CDO 2007-1, was arranged by Mizuho International and Delaware Investments acted as the collateral manager. In 2007, S&P had a AAA rating on the security, which was backed largely by subprime mortgages. The agency eventually lowered the rating on the CDO to junk by the end of 2008. If the SEC decides to act, the agency can slap S&P with a civil fine, force disgorgement of fees and or seek other appropriate equitable relief.

    This is the latest action in a string of SEC investigations into mortgage bond deals that went bust during the financial crisis. Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Citigroup (C) and Credit Suisse (CS) are in talks with the SEC to settle charges relating to its role in a $1 billion CDO it created in 2007. JP Morgan (JPM) paid $154 million earlier this year to settle civil charges related to a bad mortgage bond deal.

    A Wells Notice is not a formal allegation or finding of wrongdoing, and a recipient can try to convince the SEC not to act. And a notice doesn't mean that the SEC will actually do anything. The commission sent a notice to fellow credit rating agency Moody's (MCO) last May, saying that Moody's registration statement was "rendered false and misleading" due to violations of company policy. That case was dropped.

    The SEC notice comes amid a shake-up at McGraw-Hill (MHP). The storied publisher plans to split into two publicly traded companies by the end of 2012. McGraw-Hill Markets will include S&P, the S&P index business, and J.D. Power and Associates. McGraw-Hill Education will include the education services business.

    S&P, along with Moody's, are reportedly under investigation by the Department of Justice for their role in the recent credit crisis.

    And S&P has lately been in the news for its decision this August to lower the United States' sovereign credit rating from AAA to AA+. S&P's president Deven Sharma stepped down soon after and was replaced by Citibank's chief operating officer Douglas Peterson.