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New York Attorney General Schneiderman Announces Agreement With BlackRock To End Its Analyst Survey Program Worldwide - Groundbreaking Agreement With BlackRock The First Reform Resulting From Industry-Wide Investigation Into Early Access To Analyst Sentiment - Schneiderman: Agreement With BlackRock To End Analyst Survey Program And Cooperate With Investigation Into “Insider Trading 2.0” A Major Step Forward

Date 09/01/2014

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced today the first major reform resulting from his industry-wide investigation into the early release of Wall Street analyst sentiment, a practice that provides an unfair advantage to elite and technologically sophisticated market players at the expense of others in the market. This follows a separate reform secured by the Attorney General in which Thomson Reuters agreed to stop selling an early release of consumer survey data to high-frequency traders. 

Following months of investigation, Attorney General Schneiderman secured an agreement with BlackRock -- the world's largest asset manager -- to permanently discontinue the practice of systematically surveying Wall Street analysts for their opinions on firms they cover. BlackRock is ending this practice worldwide, not just in the United States. BlackRock has also agreed to continue cooperating with the Attorney General’s broader investigation into what the Attorney General has called “Insider Trading 2.0.”

“Our agreement with BlackRock to end its global analyst survey program and cooperate with my office’s Wall Street-wide investigation into the early release of analyst sentiment is a major step forward in ensuring fairness to our financial markets and ensuring a level playing field for all investors,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “The concept that there should be one set of rules for everyone is critical to protecting the integrity of our markets, which is why my office will continue to take action against those who provide unfair advantages to elite traders at the expense of the rest of us.”

Prior to this agreement, BlackRock operated what is believed to be the largest analyst survey program in the world, soliciting answers from analysts that could reveal the direction of their next published report. Analyst reports are understood to be market-moving information because their recommendations have broad impact on clients’ decisions and the direction of the market.  

The BlackRock survey contained a number of questions worded to capture analysts’ views regarding management, competitive position, earnings, and other important aspects of covered companies. The Attorney General’s Office determined that the design, timing, and structure of the surveys allowed BlackRock to obtain information from analysts that could be used to get ahead of, or, as a BlackRock document put it, “front-run” future analyst revisions.  

A key component of the settlement with BlackRock is its continued cooperation in the Attorney General’s broader investigation into the early release of analyst opinions to investors who use the data in complex trading programs. 

In a speech delivered at the Bloomberg Markets 50 Summit in September 2013, the Attorney General outlined his concern about the early release of market-moving data to preferred investors in a practice he dubbed “Insider Trading 2.0.” In the speech, he highlighted his interim agreement with Thomson Reuters to end the company’s practice of selling early access to consumer confidence data to high-frequency traders. He also expressed concern regarding brokerage firm analysts who answer surveys that provide traders with a sneak peek into forthcoming analyst reports.  

The investigation into BlackRock's analyst survey program was based in part on information provided by confidential whistleblowers who came forward to express grave concerns about BlackRock's survey program and about similar practices industry-wide. In the course of investigating Wall Street analyst surveys, the Attorney General's Office obtained hundreds of thousands of pages of documentary evidence related to BlackRock's analyst survey program and took testimony from BlackRock employees and others. 

A copy of the agreement with BlackRock can be found on the OAG website here

The Attorney General Office's investigation into the early release of Wall Street analyst sentiment is being led by Chad Johnson, Chief of the Investor Protection Bureau; Nicholas Suplina, Senior Advisor and Special Counsel; and Assistant Attorneys General Kenneth Haim and Jordan Salberg, under the supervision of Karla G. Sanchez, Executive Deputy Attorney General for Economic Justice, and Janet Sabel, First Deputy Attorney General of Affirmative Litigation.