LET US GET it straight right away. I have no evidence and I make no allegation that Standard and Poor's (S&P), the big United States ratings agency, profited from its latest ratings change in Hong Kong by manipulating the timing of it.
But surely a credit watchdog of S&P's standing and public prominence must realise that to announce a ratings downgrade of big property stocks in Hong Kong smack in the middle of morning trading hours is to invite suspicion and that it has only itself to thank if I now list those suspicions.
They are at the worst that S&P itself shorted the market immediately before making the announcement and then cleaned up before noon by covering its short positions as share prices predictably fell on the announcement.
They are at a lesser degree of nefarious intent that S&P told subscribers to its services of the ratings change 20 minutes before telling the general public and knowingly let those subscribers clean up on a quick short, thus making it plain that subscription has a definite bonus benefit and that perhaps you should subscribe too.
They are thirdly that an announcement during market hours was a ploy to demonstrate to the world that S&P has tremendous clout and can move markets. You want to be on the side of the big boys who can do this sort of thing, do you not? Well, S&P is now clearly one of those big boys. Proof has been delivered. Quiver in fear, you minions.
Once again let me make it clear that I have no evidence to say that these deeds were done or that this was the thinking behind the unusual timing of the announcement. But even if all of it is just market rumour and cynicism, S&P has its good name to protect and should have known that to go about things the way it did is to guarantee that mud will be slung at that name.
In the interests of its own shareholders alone, it should now publicly declare that it did not deal in the market ahead of the announcement and, more than that, should make this declaration only after publicly demonstrating that it has scrutinised the doings of its employees to ensure that none of them did so either.
