Last edited 2:59 p.m., Feb. 3, 2015Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon announced key financial initiatives that will take advantage of the $21.5 million settlement with Standard and Poor’s Financial Services LLC.
The funding includes $4.68 million for a University of Missouri School of Medicine’s partnership with CoxHealth and Mercy to open a
public-private clinical campus in Springfield and $620,000 for Missouri State University’s occupational therapy and other health-related degrees, according to a news release.
The settlement funding in the state’s general fund also will give:
- $8 million to Missouri’s seven veterans’ homes;
- $3.5 million to high-tech startups through Jefferson City-based Missouri Technology Corp.;
- $1.5 million to cyber crimes task forces to reduce Internet sex crimes and improve public safety;
- $500,000 to sheltered workshops for Missourians with disabilities;
- $500,000 to the Missouri Department of Correction to provide grants for groups working to reintegrate offenders into society;
- $500,000 in grants to provide people with Alzheimer’s and their families respite and other services;
- $500,000 to the state Division of Tourism for promotions;
- $400,000 in grants to senior services agencies, including for meals;
- $250,000 to the Lincoln University land grant match; and
- $50,000 to train teachers on how to work with students with epilepsy.
On Wednesday, Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster and Secretary of State Jason Kander jointly announced the settlement with McGraw Hill Financial Inc. and its subsidiary Standard and Poor’s, which brought to a close allegations of securities fraud and deceptive business practices.
In a lawsuit filed in February 2013, Koster and Kander charged S&P with four counts of securities fraud and one count of consumer fraud. The suit alleged the rating agency allowed its analysis of investment opportunities to be swayed by the desire to earn fees from investment bank clients, often to the detriment of investors. Further, the suit alleged S&P knowingly assigned inflated credit ratings to toxic assets that were sold by the Wall Street investment banks.
“The consequences of S&P’s irresponsible decisions can still be felt beyond Wall Street,” Kander said in a release. “This settlement holds S&P accountable for misleading Missourians and investors nationwide in the run-up to one of the greatest financial crises in our country’s history.”
Missouri’s lawsuit was filed alongside legal action by the U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., and 19 other states. Two states, New York and Massachusetts, pursued investigation separate from the collective effort and secured settlements of $12 million and $7 million, respectively. S&P agreed to pay $1.38 billion in overall settlement funding.[[In-content Ad]]
