Prosecutor wants S&P officials jailed

An Italian prosecutor has asked for five current and former managers at credit ratings agency S&P Global Ratings to be jailed for alleged market manipulation in relation to a sovereign downgrade of the country, a court heard on Friday.

Ratings agencies have come under fire in Italy for their role during the sovereign debt crisis, when a series of cuts to the country’s ratings compounded economic and political problems that sent borrowing costs soaring.

Italian prosecutor Michele Ruggiero asked for jail sentences of two to three years and fines of up to €500,000 for the officials, as well as a fine of €4.6m for the agency itself.

A new hearing is scheduled for Wednesday and the judge is expected to then set a date for the verdict.

S&P said none of the accusations were backed up by proof.

In e-mailed comments, the agency said the various hearings had repeatedly shown S&P’s analyses had been in line with reports from the Bank of Italy and leading international institutions.

“The accusations against Standard & Poor’s are based on a bad interpretation of normal analytical debate, crucial for our ratings process,” it said.

Four of the five people Ruggiero wants jailed are still with S&P.

The probe against S&P, as well as rivals Fitch and Moody’s, was launched by prosecutors in Trani, southern Italy, in January 2012 following complaints by consumer associations.

The case against Moody’s was dropped in 2012.

Earlier this month, prosecutors asked for Fitch analyst David Riley to be jailed for nine months. Riley denies any wrongdoing. actually