US SPECIAL – Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has issued an upbeat statement on the impact of Tuesday’s terrorist atrocities in the US on global financial markets, claiming that the effects will not be detrimental over the long term.

In a statement, Leo O’Neill, president of S&P, commented:
“Our economic, financial and debt analysts continue to assess the situation and we are convinced that this will not have a negative longstanding impact on global financial markets."

The firm has temporarily closed its offices at 55 Water Street in Manhattan, New York and issued hotline numbers in the UK: +44-207-847-7400 for all ratings inquiries and +44-207-826-3800 for all other questions.

O’Neill continued: "The recent tragedies in the United States have deeply saddened us all at Standard & Poor's. On behalf of the Executive Committee of Standard & Poor's, I would like to express our deepest sympathies to all of the victims' families, especially to our clients and the financial industry we serve.”

He added: “To the best of our knowledge, no employee of Standard & Poor's was among the victims of the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center.
“Our offices worldwide and in the United States outside of New York City continue to operate normally. Our systems and data at our lower Manhattan Headquarters at 55 Water Street are unimpaired, and we will resume operations there in accordance with instructions from government officials.”


Ratings agency Moody’s also issued a statement to reassure customers, and shareholders that the company was operating despite the tragedy in lower Manhattan.
It read: “We believe that all of our employees are safe. Moody’s headquarters building at 99 Church Street is intact, but closed until further notice. Our regional offices in Europe, Asia, Latin America, Canada, and the United States outside of New York are open and fully operational. We are establishing temporary facilities in the New York area. We are currently restoring our telecommunications capabilities in New York and access to our internet sites. Currently, access to Moodys.com can be achieved by means of its Internet Protocol (IP) Address: 129.33.64.100 and to MoodysResearch.com by means of its IP address 198.3.182.139. We have a program to resume operations in New York and further information will be posted on www.moodys.com when it is available.”




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