On August 5, Standard & Poor’s India-born Deven Sharma struck off the ‘AAA’ rating of the U.S. to AA+, considered the Gold standard in the world of finance, for the first time since 1914.
FREMOND – On 5 August Standard & Poor’s, led by Jharkhand-born Deven Sharma, struck off the ‘AAA’ rating of the U.S. to AA+, considered the Gold standard in the world of finance, for the first time since 1914. The 57-year old Sharma was suddenly in the spotlight after something that was in the air for a few months but which appeared more like a distant possibility: The U.S. country rating was downgraded. This was decided after several conferences between top officials in the Obama administration and Sharma’s team of number-crunchers.
Credit rating firm Standard & Poor’s is headed by India-born Deven Sharma. S&P officials told Barak Obama’s treasury department that the ratings major’s analysts have come to a decision that the US no longer deserves to be among the best rated countries in the world. This downgrade came as shock to the government and investors around the world.
Deven Sharma was named president of Standard & Poor’s, the leading credit ratings company and a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies in 2007. Sharma joined Standard & Poor’s in 2006 as executive vice president, Investment Services and Global Sales. Before joining Standard & Poor’s, he was executive vice president, Global Strategy at The McGraw-Hill Companies for five years.
Over the last four years as the head of one of the foremost rating agencies in the world, Sharma has faced several US Congressional grillings, but has negotiated most of them. He admitted that over the last four years, comments made by US lawmakers have changed to appreciation from strong criticism.
Sharma holds a bachelor’s degree from the Birla Institute of Technology in India, a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin and a doctoral degree in Business Management from Ohio State University. He is chairman of the Board of Directors for CRISIL, a Standard & Poor’s company and India’s leading ratings, research, risk and policy advisory company.
Sharma is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the International Advisory Board of the British-American Business Council and serves on the Asia Society Business Council.
