By: (AP) The
Financial Times said Friday it would fight a lawsuit brought by a brokerage firm that alleges the newspaper damaged its reputation by publicizing accusations made by a former employee.
The brokerage, Collins Stewart Tullett PLC, filed the lawsuit this week, contending that some articles the paper published late last month were defamatory and inaccurate. Collins Stewart is seeking damages equal to the loss in its market capitalization since the paper published the first of these stories -- an amount equal to about 128 million pounds ($202 million).
"We stand by our story. We believe there was public interest in reporting those allegations in a balanced way," said
Financial Times spokeswoman Joanna Manning-Cooper.
The articles concerned accusations that a former Collins Stewart analyst made in a report to the Financial Services Authority, Britain's financial watchdog agency. That report was part of a lawsuit filed by the former employee, James Middleweek, who claims he was wrongfully fired.
Middleweek accused the London-based brokerage of conflicts of interest that put pressure on its analysts to support the firm's corporate finance business, including deals in newly issued shares of low quality. He claimed he was punished for being too evenhanded in his analysis.
Collins Stewart denied the charges and accused Middleweek of blackmail.
The Financial Services Authority said it was looking into the report, which it received in mid-July.
The case was now "in the hands of the lawyers," Manning-Cooper said.
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