TIME6.docx
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TIME6.docx
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TIME6
ProsecutorsAskif8BanksDupedRatingAgencies
TheNewYorkattorneygeneralhasstartedaninvestigationofeightbankstodeterminewhethertheyprovidedmisleadinginformationtoratingagenciesinordertoinflatethegradesofcertainmortgagesecurities,accordingtotwopeoplewithknowledgeoftheinvestigation.
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ChangW.Lee/TheNewYorkTimes
AndrewCuomo,theattorneygeneralofNewYork,sentsubpoenastoeightWallStreetbankslateWednesday.
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Theinvestigationparallelsfederalinquiriesintothebusinesspracticesofabroadrangeoffinancialcompaniesintheyearsbeforethecollapseofthehousingmarket.
Wherethoseinvestigationshavefocusedoninteractionsbetweenthebanksandtheirclientswhoboughtmortgagesecurities,thisoneexpandsthescopeofscrutinytotheinterplaybetweenbanksandtheagenciesthatratetheirsecurities.
Theagenciesthemselveshavebeenwidelycriticizedforoverstatingthequalityofmanymortgagesecuritiesthatendeduplosingmoneyoncethehousingmarketcollapsed.TheinquirybytheattorneygeneralofNewYork,AndrewM.Cuomo,suggeststhathethinkstheagenciesmayhavebeendupedbyoneormoreofthetargetsofhisinvestigation.
ThosetargetsareGoldmanSachs,MorganStanley,UBS,Citigroup,CreditSuisse,DeutscheBank,CréditAgricoleandMerrillLynch,whichisnowownedbyBankofAmerica.
ThecompaniesthatratedthemortgagedealsareStandard&Poor’s,FitchRatingsandMoody’sInvestorsService.Investorsusedtheirratingstodecidewhethertobuymortgagesecurities.
Mr.Cuomo’sinvestigationfollowsanarticleinTheNewYorkTimesthatdescribedsomeofthetechniquesbankersusedtogetmorepositiveevaluationsfromtheratingagencies.
Mr.Cuomoisalsointerestedintherevolvingdoorofemployeesoftheratingagencieswhowerehiredbybankmortgagedeskstohelpcreatemortgagedealsthatgotbetterratingsthantheydeserved,saidthepeoplewithknowledgeoftheinvestigation,whowerenotauthorizedtodiscussitpublicly.
ContactedaftersubpoenaswereissuedbyMr.Cuomo’sofficelateWednesdaynightnotifyingthebanksofhisinvestigation,spokespeopleforMorganStanley,CreditSuisseandDeutscheBankdeclinedtocomment.Otherbanksdidnotimmediatelyrespondtorequestsforcomment.
InresponsetoquestionsfortheTimesarticleinApril,aGoldmanSachsspokesman,SamuelRobinson,said:
“AnysuggestionthatGoldmanSachsimproperlyinfluencedratingagenciesiswithoutfoundation.Wereliedontheindependenceoftheratingsagencies’processesandtheratingstheyassigned.”
Goldman,whichisalreadyunderinvestigationbyfederalprosecutors,hasbeendefendingitselfagainstcivilfraudaccusationsmadeinacomplaintlastmonthbytheSecuritiesandExchangeCommission.Thedealattheheartofthatcomplaint—calledAbacus2007-AC1—wasdevisedinpartbyaformerFitchRatingsemployeenamedShinYukawa,whomGoldmanrecruitedin2005.
Attheheightofthemortgageboom,companieslikeGoldmanofferedmillion-dollarpaypackagestoworkerslikeMr.Yukawawhohadbeenworkingatmuchlowerpayattheratingagencies,accordingtoseveralformerworkersattheagencies.
AroundthesametimethatMr.YukawaleftFitch,threeotheranalystsinhisunitalsojoinedfinancialcompanieslikeDeutscheBank.
Insomecases,oncetheseworkerswereatthebanks,theyhaddealingswiththeirformercolleaguesattheagencies.Inthefallof2007,whenbankswerehard-pressedtogetmortgagedealsdone,theFitchanalystonaGoldmandealwasafriendofMr.Yukawa,accordingtotwopeoplewithknowledgeofthesituation.
Mr.Yukawadidnotrespondtorequestsforcomment.
WallStreetplayedacrucialroleinthemortgagemarket’spathtocollapse.Investmentbanksbundledmortgageloansintosecuritiesandthenoftenrebundledthosesecuritiesoneortwomoretimes.Thosesecuritiesweregivenhighratingsandsoldtoinvestors,whohavesincelostbillionsofdollarsonthem.
Bankswereputonnoticelastsummerthatinvestigatorsofallsortswerelookingintotheirmortgageoperations,whenrequestsforinformationweresentouttoallofthebigWallStreetfirms.Thetopicsofinterestincludedthewaymortgagesecuritieswerecreated,marketedandratedandsomebanks’owntradingagainstthemortgagemarket.
TheS.E.C.’scivilcaseagainstGoldmanisthemostprominentactionsofar.ButotheractionscouldbetakenbytheJusticeDepartment,theF.B.I.ortheFinancialCrisisInquiryCommission—allofwhicharelookingintothefinancialcrisis.Criminalcasescarryahigherburdenofproofthancivilcases.UnderaNewYorkstatelaw,Mr.Cuomocanbringacriminalorcivilcase.
Hisofficescrutinizedtheratingagenciesbackin2008,justasthefinancialcrisiswasbeginning.Inasettlement,theagenciesagreedtodemandmoreinformationonmortgagebondsfrombanks.
Mr.Cuomowasalsoconcernedabouttheagencies’feearrangements,whichallowedbankstoshoptheirdealsamongtheagenciesforthebestrating.Toendthatinquiry,theagenciesagreedtochangetheirmodelssotheywouldbepaidforanyworktheydidforbanks,evenifthosebanksdidnotselectthemtorateagivendeal
BPSeesHopeforSolutioninCappingSpillintheGulf
Afterdaysofdeepeninggloom,BPandtwoObamaadministrationofficialssuggestedonWednesdaythatthecompanywasclosertoasolutionthatmighthalttheseeminglyuncontrollableoilspillintheGulfofMexico.
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BP,viaGettyImages
Themainoilleakattheendoftheriserpipe,underwaterintheGulfofMexico,nearly5,000feetbelowthesurface.
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DocumentsandTestimoneyFromtheOversightHearing
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GulfofMexicoOilSpillMultimediaCollection
Related
∙U.S.toSplitUpAgencyPolicingtheOilIndustry(May12,2010)
∙TimesTopic:
GulfofMexicoOilSpill(2010)
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LarryW.Smith/EuropeanPressphotoAgency
TheofficialssaidengineersandscientistsatBP’scommandcenterinHoustonhaddraftedplanstoworkonandaroundanunderwaterblowoutpreventer,amassivesafetydevicethatisdesignedtosealanoilwellinanemergencybutfailedtodosoaftertheexplosionattherigonApril20.
Theoilgianthas“increasingconfidencethatwecanintervenedirectlyintheB.O.P.atacceptablylowrisk,”aBPspokesman,AndrewGowers,said.Successiveeffortstoplugthespilloverthepastthreeweekshavefailed.
SentbyPresidentObamatoHouston,EnergySecretaryStevenChuandInteriorSecretaryKenSalazarmetwithtopengineersandscientistsattheBPcommandcenterforseveralhoursonWednesday.
“Thingsarelookingup,”Dr.Chu,aNobellaureateinphysics,toldreportersafterthemeeting.“Progressisbeingmade.”Hecautionedthatthesituationwasstillnotundercontrolanddeclinedtodetailthereasonsforhisoptimism.Butwhenpressed,hesaid,“I’mfeelingmorecomfortablethanIwasaweekago.”
InWashington,aHousesubcommitteeinvestigatingthedisasterraisedthepossibilitythatBPwrappedupworkontheoilrigeventhoughasealatthetopofthewellhadfailedapressuretestafewhoursbeforetheexplosion.Representativesalsosuggestedthatahydraulicleakmayhavedisabledtheblowoutpreventer.
YetaspatchesofoilwashedashoreonabarrierislandinLouisianaover60mileswestoftheMississippi,aBPofficialsaidequipmentwasbeingputinplaceontheseabedforthreeinterventionoptionsthatpotentiallycouldstopthespillwithinweeksratherthanmonths.
Hesaidadecisionwouldbemade,mostlikelybySunday,onwhethertoproceedwithanyofthem.Workwouldbeginafewdayslater,saidtheofficial,whospokeonconditionofanonymitybecausehewasnotauthorizedtodiscussthesubject.
Hesaid10roboticsubmersibleswerecarryingoutthepreparations5,000feetunderthegulf’ssurfaceinthemeantime.
Astheoilcompanythatrentedthedrillingrig,BPisoneofthepartiesresponsibleforstoppingandcleaningupthespill.Oneoptionithasundertakenforhaltingthegushofoilisdrillingreliefwellsthatcouldbeusedtoplugthedamagedwellwithcement,butthatwilltakeseveralmonths.
Engineershavedescribedthreeotherapproachesthatcouldstoptheleak:
aso-calledjunkshotthatwouldclogtheblowoutpreventerwithmaterialsincludingshreddedtiresandgolfballs;addingasecondblowoutpreventeratopthefirstandusingittoshuttheflow;orcuttingthecollapsedriserpipeandinstallingavalvethatwoulddothesamething.
Thejunkshotwouldbefollowedbya“topkill,”thepumpingofheavydrillingmudintothewelltoovercomethepressureoftherisingoil.
Theofficialsaidajunkshotmightbeusedfirstevenifanotheroptionwaschosenbecauseitcouldfurtherrestrictorstoptheflowofoilandmaketheotherrepairseasierandsafer.
Installingavalveorasecondblowoutpreventer,hesaid,wouldkeepthewellundercontroluntilareliefwellwasfinishedandheavymudandcementcouldbepumpedintosealitpermanently.
TheBPofficialsaidthematerialforthejunkshotwouldbepumpedfromashiponthesurfacethroughnewpipedowntotheblowoutpreventer,whichthesubmersiblerobotshavebeenworkingonforseveraldays.
Officialsnotedthatthesekindsofapproacheshadneverbeentriedatsuchdepthsandthattheycouldfail—justasaplantousealargecontainmentdometocapturesomeoftheoilfailedovertheweekend.
ThejunkshottechniquewasusedsuccessfullyintheKuwaitioilfieldsinthe1991PersianGulfwar.Butthosewellswereonlandand,eveninharshdesertconditions,couldberepairedbypeople,notbyrobotsworkingine
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