WASHINGTON, Jan. 2 — A report by the staff of a Senate panel has concluded that Robert E. Rubin "did not act contrary to law" in the weeks before Enron collapsed by suggesting to the under secretary of the Treasury that he urge major credit-rating agencies to delay issuing a downgrade of Enron.
Mr. Rubin, who resigned as Treasury secretary in July 1999 and several months later became chairman of Citigroup's executive committee, called Peter R. Fisher, the under secretary of the Treasury, on Nov. 8, 2001, after learning that Enron was close to losing its investment-grade rating.
Citigroup stood to lose more than $1 billion that it had lent to Enron if its credit rating was downgraded and the company subsequently collapsed. Mr. Rubin had been asked to make the call by the head of Citigroup's investment banking unit at the time, Michael A. Carpenter, according to the staff report by the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee.
Interviewed by Senate staff members, Mr. Rubin said the phone call to Mr. Fisher was "not only proper, but I would do it again," and that the effect Enron's collapse would have on energy markets was worth bringing to the attention of Treasury officials. Asked whether government officials should intervene in a ratings action, Mr. Rubin told staff members that "he had not given the matter a great deal of thought." |
