New York governor in the spotlight for allegations of discrediting rival
Brokers at Marsh, especially Marsh & McLennan in the US, must be sitting up and taking notice of events in New York. Elliot Spitzer, the so-called Wall Street sheriff, rode into town as New York Governor seven months ago on the back of bringing Marsh and some high street banks to heel on business deals, and clean up all before him.
Spitzer’s accusation of rigging of commissions by Marsh & McLennan is still reverberating throughout the UK broking market.
But it is Spitzer himself who is now in the dock. Last week he had to discipline two of his staff when a report showed how they carried out a political hit job on one of the governor’s rivals.
Democrat Spitzer denied any knowledge of a plot to discredit Joe Bruno, a high ranking Republican in New York. Editorials in the US have been filled with asking: “what Mr Spitzer knew and when he knew it” a famous phrase used against Richard Nixon during the Watergate hearings.
All of a sudden Spitzer’s ethical credentials are being questioned. The coverage in the US press is that the qualities that made Spitzer famous - his hard hitting in yer face confrontational style with financial institutions - has been transferred to the governor’s office and it doesn’t work the same way.
One observer noted that it was difficult to see how Spitzer will recover from this crisis. Only time will tell.
