I saw an email (posted elsewhere) dated in April 2011 that discussed 'possible' S&P downgrade, citing pretty much the same reasons that were published in the actual downgrade report. See this news article for more info. http://www.thetechherald.com/articl...ve-contractor-advance-notice-on-S&P-downgrade < - > "The odd thing about the communication is that it happened April 25, long before S&P downgraded the U.S. credit rating. Yet, the logic for the downgrade mentioned in the email was spot on."
Was it public knowledge how long S&P would give Congress to act before it instituted the downgrade? The Merrill/BAC analyst seems to have known more than most people.........
The press release for this organization states the following- "Additionally we found evidence of a Merrill Lynch wealth management advisor giving private advance notice to Garcia about upcoming S&P US credit rating downgrades." In my opinion, "private advance notice" doesn't sound good for Merrill.
If they can prove a direct connection to leaks out of S&P then, yeah, that wouldn't be good, but there was plenty of evidence before they released their decision that that was what was going to happen. It is possible they treated their clients unfairly, but more likely analysts at ML tipped these advisors off that it was coming. I wouldn't assume Merrill is guilty until it is proven. This appears spec to me.
of course they leak info to to their clients who have them on retainer for their banking services. Many of these clients are officers at publically traded companies. The client pays 30 grand a month or more and the clients gets advice on his own stock and inside info on other stocks.
Nice start: For #PHuckFBIFriday, we are releasing 1GB of private emails and documents belonging to Vanguard Defense Industries(VDI), a defense contractor that sells arms to law enforcement, military, and private corporations. The emails belong to Senior Vice President of VDI Richard T. Garcia, who has previously worked as Assistant Director to the Los Angeles FBI office as well as the Global Security Manager for Shell Oil Corporation. This leak contains internal meeting notes and contracts, schematics, non-disclosure agreements, personal information about other VDI employees, and several dozen "counter-terrorism" documents classified as "law enforcement sensitive" and "for official use only"....