PARIS – Europe’s markets watchdog today announced a €3.7 million (RM18.02 million) fine against five entities of the Moody’s credit ratings agency in the continent over breaches of conflict-of-interest rules.
The violations involve the United States-based agency’s operations in Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, according to the European Securities and Markets Authority.
The biggest fine – €2.7 million – was imposed on Moody’s UK.
The violations include delivering new ratings in violation of a ban on issuing them to outfits in which a credit ratings agency shareholder exceeds a 10% ownership threshold and/or is a board member.
The other breaches include failing to disclose conflicts of interest, and inadequate internal policies and procedures to manage shareholder conflicts of interest, said the regulator in a statement.
“All the breaches were found to have resulted from negligence on the part of Moody’s.” – AFP, March 30, 2021
