Italian prosecutors have requested that five employees of Standard & Poor’s and two from Fitch be put on trial for alleged market manipulation connected to their downgrades of Italy’s credit rating.
The prosecutors contend that the accused violated EU rules by releasing the downgrades when European markets were open and by not alerting the Italian government 12 hours before the decisions, dating back to earlier this year and last year, were made public. A judge must now decide whether to order a trial, a decision that could come in a few months.
“We have a very strong case and are quite confident that the judge will order the trial,” said Carlo Maria Capristo, the head prosecutor in Trani, the town in southeastern Italy where the case is being investigated. “There are very clear norms set by the European Union that were not respected and this led to turbulence on the markets.”