In testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on October 22, S&P's President Deven Sharma confirmed the company's decision to establish an Office of the Ombudsman as one of many initiatives is increase transparency and quality. A progress report from S&P on "steps to further manage potential conflicts of interest, strengthen the ratings process, and better serve the markets" leads with news of the Ombuds program:Establish an Office of the Ombudsman that will address concerns related to potential conflicts of interest and analytical and governance processes that are raised by issuers, investors, employees and other market participants across Standard & Poor's Ratings Services ("S&P") businesses. The Ombudsman will have oversight over the handling of all issues, with authority to escalate all unresolved matters, as necessary, to the CEO of McGraw-Hill and the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors.
The company says that it has "begun a search for candidates and will appoint an Ombudsman by year-end." (MarketWatch; S&P Progress Report.
10/23/08 Update: NY Times reports that S&P "has established an ombudsman office."
Prior posts: S&P to Hire Ombuds; S&P Promises Ombuds by Year-End.
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