Deven Sharma to resign as Standard and Poor's head

Indian-American Deven Sharma, the president of Standard and Poor's, is stepping down by year end, an announcement coming only weeks after the credit rating agency downgraded American credit rating.

The credit-rating firm plans to announce Sharma's exit before the markets open, The Wall Street Journal said late last night.

 "I particularly want to thank Deven for his dedicated leadership of S&P. Today, S&P is a stronger company, whose 1,300 global analysts are sharply focused on the quality, independence and transparency of S&P's research and analytics," McGraw added.

Douglas Peterson, chief operating officer of Citigroup Inc.'s Citibank unit, will succeed Sharma on September 12, the daily said.

According to the daily, Sharma will remain at S&P through the end of the year in an advisory capacity, working with McGraw-Hill Cos. Chairman, President and Chief Executive Harold "Terry" McGraw III as the company explores a separation of its education business.

Sharma said, "It has been a privilege to serve as the President of S&P and I am proud of what we as an organization have achieved over the past four years. As McGraw-Hill continues its portfolio review, I will work closely with the leadership team to find ways to create even more shareholder value."

Harold "Terry" McGraw III is the current chairman of US India Business Council (USIBC), the premier business advocacy organization comprising of the top companies from the two countries.

Sharma joined Standard & Poor's in 2006 as executive vice president, Investment Service and Global Sales.

Before joining Standard & Poor's, he was executive vice president, Global Strategy at The McGraw-Hill Companies for five years.

Standard & Poor's was split into two separate organisations last year -- S&P, the credit ratings service, and McGraw-Hill Financial -- to enable both organisations to serve investors and customers more effectively.

"Sharma assisted us with the creation of these two high-growth segments and was then ready for new challenges. Accordingly, we began a process to identify a new leader for S&P," the company said.

Sharma was thrust into the international spotlight when S&P made its unprecedented decision to downgrade the US long-term sovereign credit rating from the top-notch 'AAA' level for the first time ever since a rating was assigned to the world's largest economy.

Sharma led from the front and defended S&P's move when the US administration took up cudgels against the ratings agency, terming its analysis flawed and questioning its credibility and integrity.

Sharma holds a bachelor's degree from the Birla Institute of Technology in Jharkhand, a master's degree from the University of Wisconsin and a doctoral degree in Business Management from Ohio State University. He did his schooling in Dhanbad district of Jharkhand.