Greithner must deliver S&P documents in $5 billion U.S. fraud lawsuit
On legal news, Timothy Geithner, former U.S. Treasury Secretary, must give Standard & Poor’s documents, basically unedited versions, he used when writing his best-selling memoir, a ruling that could help S&P defend against the government’s $5 billion fraud lawsuit over its credit ratings.
S&P believes the documents may support its claim that the February 2013 lawsuit was filed in retaliation for its having downgrading the country’s debt 18 months earlier.
“A former executive official cannot, with one hand, withhold information implicated in a case of significant public importance while, with the other, collect money from sales of a tell-all book containing much the same information,” Carter wrote. “The public has a right to every man’s evidence.”
Geithner’s book “Stress Test: Reflections on Financial Crises” spent the month of June on the New York Times’ hardcover nonfiction best-seller list, ranking fourth in its first week.
The lawsuit accused S&P of inflating ratings to win more fees from issuers and then failing to downgrade debt backed by deteriorating mortgage-backed securities fast enough.
Carter’s decision is dated Sept. 24.
Source: Reuters- Greithner must deliver S&P documents in $5 billion U.S. fraud lawsuit
