Mr Jaitley, Moody’s was fined for ratings in the US & Europe
02:39PM Sat 18 Nov, 2017
Was the Union Finance Minister too quick to welcome Moody’s upgrading India’s rating from the bottom to a rung just above it?
Moody’s, the global rating agency, has been fined in the US, in Europe and in Hong Kong for ‘rating fraud’, and all during the last year and a half. Regulators in the United States, Europe and in Hong Kong questioned the integrity of the process and imposed heavy fines on the agency.
- In January, 2017 Moody’s agreed to pay a fine of 864 million US Dollars ( approximately 550 Crore INR) to escape criminal action for its inflated rating of banks and securities in the run up to the sub-prime crisis of 2008.
- In June, 2017 Europe’s markets watchdog imposed a penalty of 1.24 million Euros on Moody’s for “not adhering to the correct rating protocol”
- In April, 2016 a Hong Kong tribunal upheld a penalty of 1.4 million HK Dollars on Moody’s Financial Service for similar reasons.