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Moody's Leak Disclosed, Other Potential Compromised Data Identified
The source of Moody's latest public humiliation in the matter of the Hilton Hotel LBO information leakage to Galleon, has been identified as Deep Shah, an analyst in his mid-twenties, who has since left the company, and is rumored to be back in India. A casual glance at Moody's reports that list Shah as an author discloses numerous other potential deals in which the former Moody's employer may have leaked information.
The WSJ discloses:
Federal prosecutors now allege that a former junior analyst, identified
by a person familiar with the matter as Deep Shah, breached that trust
in July 2007 when he passed on inside information about Blackstone
Group's pending $26 billion takeover of Hilton Hotels.
While Mr. Shah's role in the alleged insider-trading affair is small,
his link to the third party -- now a key cooperating witness in the
probe -- could shed light on how investigators uncovered the trading
ring. Unusual trading in Hilton's shares was one of the first events
that attracted scrutiny from regulators in 2007. The same cooperating
witness was friends with an executive at Polycom Inc. and also passed
on information about Google Inc.
Mr. Shah couldn't be reached for comment. A Moody's spokesman declined
to comment on the alleged role of Mr. Shah. He reiterated the company's
statement last week, saying that the alleged wrongdoing by one of its
employees "would be an egregious violation" of the rating firm's
policies.
Mr. Shah, who is in his mid-20s, left Moody's more than a year ago and
is believed to have returned to his home country of India, according to
former colleagues. One ex-colleague described him as "mellow."
Zero Hedge has conducted an inquiry into Moody's reports that carry Shah's name on them: the associate analyst was busy, as he covered a plethora of LBO-ridden sectors and names in the 2004-2008 time frame, which have included these takeover targets:
- Sabre Holdings
- First Data Corporation
- Computer Associates
- Ceridian
- Electronic Data Systems
- Several overview pieces of U.S. Gaming Companies, a compendium of all American gaming companies, many of which were acquired in the 2007 LBO boom wave
If Mr. Shah allegedly leaked the Hilton information on a few minutes notice in exchange for $10,000, and he was presumably also in possession of material "take private" information on many other companies in his coverage list, we suggest the SEC focus on any and all odd activity around LBOs that Mr. Shah may have been responsible for, especially in the 24 hour advance notice period that only rating agencies inexplicably are privy to such very material, non-public information, and which, the allegation goes, they have been so successful in leaking to the highest bidders.
Oh, and a regulatory idea: immediately do away with the practice of giving Moody's or S&P any advance notice of LBOs (not that there will be many of those in the foreseeable future). In fact, do away with the practice of giving rating agencies any material non-public information period. And, even more in fact, do away with the rating agencies in total. After all their existence is merely there to generate page views for blogosphere which fills its content extolling their endless stupidity and corruption.
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Is Shah Indian for "throat?"
Only if extraordinary rendition is used...
nah, Deep is Indian for Rick.... "Rickshah"
Hmm eco "Deep" in Indian phoenitics is pronounced similar to "Da Plane" "Da plane" its not pronounced as Deep but a thinner D i.e the tip of your tongue should not curl up to touch roof of mouth but stay straight and touch your teeth as you say "Deep". Hmm Indian languages have much more specific refined phoenitic alphabets...
witty reply eco. LMAO
OT, sorry
Yes Men Pull Off Chamber Of Commerce Hoax On Climate Change (VIDEO)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/19/chamber-of-commerce-hoax_n_326069.html
How sad.
Manne uses Holocaust to Smear Sceptical Scientists
http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments
I believe the Jewish burnt offering Holocaust happened. I believe the Russian burnt offering Holocaust happened. I believe the Chinese burnt offering Holocaust happened.
I do not believe the man-made global warming burnt offering holocaust is happening. I believe our sleepy Sun has something to do with making our planet colder.
Oh darn, I said the J word.
come one dude, open a forum thread or something, this is neither the time, nor the place, it has gotten out of hand with this bullshit ....
It didn't take them long to find their brown-skinned sacrificial goat, did it? And a junior player, all the better.
Even better yet, he's been lost on the Indian subcontinent for a year already.
Pity, that. So we can end the investigation now right? Excellent. Nothing to see here folks, move along.
Sadly, and I do mean sadly, the "brown-skinned sacrificial goat" is the new black (as in the black men were the problem) which was the new red (as in the red men (American Indians) were the problem) which was the new yellow (as in the Asian men were the problem).
As long as we fight among ourselves, whether "ourselves" is within a country or between countries, the powers that be will not be stopped. We man the armies that are used to destroy ourselves.
Old tricks are usually the best tricks because from generation to generation, we do not learn.
Shame on us.
Da "hits" just keep on comin'. Mr Shah, a "mellow fellow," allegedly sold out for just 10k? Whata stupid mellow fellow he be. Perhaps now he can find employment at a call center for GS.
Deep Shah is a blog name. This person's first and last names, if he truely existed, would have been 26 letters long, if he was Indian. I have my doubts about him existing because, if he was an Indian, he would have changed his last name to Patel and kept half of his first name.
Deep and Shah are Indian names- they could be real or pseudonyms.
Is "news" of insider trading on Wall Street really news to anybody who works there??????????????????????????
Sad thing is that just the hope of getting some of your own is enough to keep everybody quiet about it.
"has been identified as Deep Shah, an analyst in his mid-twenties, who has since left the company, and is rumored to be back in India"
Got and gone when the getting was good.
Um, I'm with Waterdog on the blog name and, since he's not around anymore, the idea that he is a scapegoat gains a lot of credibility. I don't think "Deep Shah" will be turning up anytime soon and frankly, I don't think this junior analyst was alone, if he was even involved.
I agree with you. It sounded fishy to me. Corporations and governments have long used the "lone gunman" or "rogue trader" excuse for decades. Old tricks are the best tricks.
But I couldn't resist having a little fun with words.
@CD
Always enjoy reading your take.
ZH, Beck has installed a red phone for exclusive calls from the White house. Have you thought of getting a red phone for the SEC? That way they can get their investigative leads directly.
you mean that dumb shit glen beck
They already get their leads from the Squid in order to eliminate the competition.
looks like Deep Shah is in Deep shat.
$10k in India could last a while....at least long enough to disappear.
Seriously, anybody, what is the legitimate rational for giving the ratings agencies 24 hour heads up?
$10K goes farther in India than US ;) Although not for long.
Yeah, blame a junior guy who has left for India.
Einhorn was right. MCO = fail.
Hey that's a new car and
$7500 for da ladies, life
is good.
If you want to get serious about insider trading on earnings announcements, just do a ban against making round trip trades 50 days prior to the earnings release. That would solve a lot of problems.
for the uninitiated (and not the merely having fun...)
Deep Shah is a very common name in India. Deep is short for Deepak - which means 'ceremonial lamp'. Philosophically, that term refers to 'knowledge'.
Shah is an often used last name that was the name of the Mughal kings as in Bahadur Shah and Shah Jehan. So, literally, the name is translated as the 'King of Knowledge'.
Strangely apropos that such Knowledge should only be worth 10k.
Kinda like "KRS-One"? Seriously, thanks for the background. Basically, IF this was an accurate account (highly doubtful) they'd be looking for the Indian equivalent of John Smith in the panoply of Anglosphere countries. Just lends more credence to my doubts about the voracity of the story.
I read the litigation paper on SEC website:
http://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2009/comp21255.pdf
Is the SEC desperate to prove itself?
How many Congressmen and women had the heads up from GS, JPM, BAC, WFC that the 700 billion tax payer gift would be used to pump the stock market?
This may turn out to be the biggest pump & dump scheme ever!
700 billion given to few key players. Advance information to political decision makers who in turn bought stocks and got a piece of the action.
Sweet. Once the dumping starts, watch out. Almost free shares turned into paper fortunes need to be dumped eventually. Who trusts who to hold their shares? Everyone knows the game is rigged and overplayed. Markets are up 60% which is scary high and not sustainable. Players know this and will run for the exits before any of the common bag holders can catch wind.
But ... but ... Without the agencies telling me which companies are sooper dooper AAA+++A+++A+ super A+ prime, how on earth would I know what to invest in?!? Surely as a random investor yahoo I can't possibly be trusted to do my own research, and need to be told which companiesto put my money in!
Please, I beg you, continue to insult my intelligence with your letter ratings. I have so very little of it compared to your godlike powers, oh mighty ratings agencies. No worries about your involvement in the subprime crisis; even gods make mistakes sometimes, right? I do so desperately need the assurance of multiple instances of the letter 'A' to tell me that massive bundles of mortgage-backed securities tied to swampland in east Arkansas are more valuable than Microsoft.
Thats what you get when you hire someone who can just jump on their carpet and fly home when the DK hits the fan....Buy American and Hire American lol