{"id":347839,"date":"2011-03-29T17:38:52","date_gmt":"2011-03-29T17:38:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/03\/29\/bp-shares-slip-amid-talk-of-criminal-charges\/"},"modified":"2011-03-29T17:38:52","modified_gmt":"2011-03-29T17:38:52","slug":"bp-shares-slip-amid-talk-of-criminal-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/29\/bp-shares-slip-amid-talk-of-criminal-charges\/","title":{"rendered":"BP shares slip amid talk of criminal charges"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><div readability=\"97.027071640806\">    <!-- KEEP --><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/5d79e051k_bpplc.top_.png.png\" alt=\"chart_ws_stock_bpplc.top.png\" width=\"475\" height=\"280\" border=\"0\" class=\"cnnstoryImageFull\" \/><span id=\"fb-recommend\"\/><br \/>\n<span>By Ben Rooney, staff reporter<\/span><span>March 29, 2011: 1:44 PM ET<\/span><!--startclickprintexclude--><br clear=\"all\"\/><\/p>\n<p>NEW YORK (CNNMoney) &#8212; Shares of BP sank more than 2% Tuesday after the stock was downgraded and a report that federal authorities are considering charging company managers with manslaughter in connection with last year&#8217;s disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.<\/p>\n<p>U.S.-listed shares of the London-based oil and gas company were down $1.16, or 2.5%, at $44.86 apiece. Earlier, the stock fell to a low of $44.52.<\/p>\n<p>The stock came under pressure after analysts at Collins Stewart cut their rating on BP to &#8220;sell&#8221; from &#8220;hold.&#8221; In the research report, the analysts wrote that uncertainty surrounding the company&#8217;s joint venture in Russia is &#8220;likely to overhang sentiment toward the company for some while.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But the stock was also hit by a report that federal investigators are considering charging BP managers with manslaughter for decisions made before the tragic <a href=\"http:\/\/features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com\/2011\/01\/24\/bp-an-accident-waiting-to-happen\/\">explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig<\/a>, which killed 11 workers nearly a year ago.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors are looking into statements made by BP executives, including <a href=\"http:\/\/money.cnn.com\/2011\/03\/03\/news\/companies\/bp_hayward_bonus\/index.htm\">former chief executive Tony Hayward<\/a>, during congressional hearings last year on the ensuing oil spill, sources told Bloomberg.<\/p>\n<p>BP (<a href=\"http:\/\/money.cnn.com\/quote\/quote.html?symb=BP&#038;source=story_quote_link\">BP<\/a>) declined to comment on the report. The Justice Department declined to comment on its investigation.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The idea that BP could be charged with manslaughter is spooking the market,&#8221; said Stacy Hudson, an analyst at Raymond James. &#8220;That&#8217;s the main reason the stock is down today.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>She said a criminal charge could be difficult to prove, since it may depend on whether BP employees were guilty of gross negligence. &#8220;I think the reaction today is a bit overblown,&#8221; said Hudson. <\/p>\n<p>Still, other experts say BP employees could be charged with manslaughter without being guilty of gross negligence.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In general, a manslaughter charge is not going to require any intent except negligence or recklessness,&#8221; said Tampa attorney Mark Rankin, a former federal public defender and specialist in charges of manslaughter. <\/p>\n<p>While statutes vary from state to state, Rankin said that &#8220;anyone at the company responsible for negligent or reckless decisions related to safety on that rig could face criminal charges for that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In addition, he said BP could face criminal charges if the government can prove that an employee disregarded the company&#8217;s own policies after being cited for safety issues.<\/p>\n<p>But prosecutors should consider the possible ramifications before filing criminal charges against BP, said Anthony Michael Sabino, a professor of business at St. John&#8217;s University in New York and a former energy industry executive.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Criminal negligence is far removed from ordinary, even gross, negligence,&#8221; he said. If prosecutors act, he said, they should have &#8220;substantial proof before they bring such a serious charge.&#8221;\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/money.cnn.com\/2011\/03\/29\/news\/companies\/bp_manslaughter\/index.htm?section=money_topstories&#038;utm_source=feedburner&#038;utm_medium=feed&#038;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmoney_topstories+%28Top+Stories%29#TOP\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/0e63013ebug.gif\" alt=\"To top of page\" border=\"0\" width=\"7\" height=\"7\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>First Published: March 29, 2011: 1:36 PM ET<\/p>\n<p><!--endclickprintexclude--><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/5d79e051k_bpplc.top_.png-150x150.png\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Originally posted here:<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/rss.cnn.com\/~r\/rss\/money_topstories\/~3\/z3PpaIP-ajk\/index.htm\" title=\"BP shares slip amid talk of criminal charges\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BP shares slip amid talk of criminal charges<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> By Ben Rooney, staff reporter March 29, 2011: 1:44 PM ET NEW YORK (CNNMoney) &#8212; Shares of BP sank more than 2% Tuesday after the stock was downgraded and a report that federal authorities are considering charging company managers with manslaughter in connection with last year&#8217;s disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. U.S.-listed shares of the London-based oil and gas company were down $1.16, or 2.5%, at $44.86 apiece. Earlier, the stock fell to a low of $44.52. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-347839","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>BP shares slip amid talk of criminal charges - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/29\/bp-shares-slip-amid-talk-of-criminal-charges\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"BP shares slip amid talk of criminal charges - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"By Ben Rooney, staff reporter March 29, 2011: 1:44 PM ET NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Shares of BP sank more than 2% Tuesday after the stock was downgraded and a report that federal authorities are considering charging company managers with manslaughter in connection with last year&#039;s disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. U.S.-listed shares of the London-based oil and gas company were down $1.16, or 2.5%, at $44.86 apiece. Earlier, the stock fell to a low of $44.52.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/5d79e051k_bpplc.top_.png.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/29\/bp-shares-slip-amid-talk-of-criminal-charges\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/29\/bp-shares-slip-amid-talk-of-criminal-charges\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"BP shares slip amid talk of criminal charges\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-03-29T17:38:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/29\/bp-shares-slip-amid-talk-of-criminal-charges\/\"},\"wordCount\":467,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/29\/bp-shares-slip-amid-talk-of-criminal-charges\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/5d79e051k_bpplc.top_.png.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Business\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/29\/bp-shares-slip-amid-talk-of-criminal-charges\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/29\/bp-shares-slip-amid-talk-of-criminal-charges\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/29\/bp-shares-slip-amid-talk-of-criminal-charges\/\",\"name\":\"BP shares slip amid talk of criminal charges - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/29\/bp-shares-slip-amid-talk-of-criminal-charges\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/29\/bp-shares-slip-amid-talk-of-criminal-charges\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/5d79e051k_bpplc.top_.png.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-03-29T17:38:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/29\/bp-shares-slip-amid-talk-of-criminal-charges\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/29\/bp-shares-slip-amid-talk-of-criminal-charges\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/5d79e051k_bpplc.top_.png.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/5d79e051k_bpplc.top_.png.png\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"BP shares slip amid talk of criminal charges - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/29\/bp-shares-slip-amid-talk-of-criminal-charges\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"BP shares slip amid talk of criminal charges - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"By Ben Rooney, staff reporter March 29, 2011: 1:44 PM ET NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Shares of BP sank more than 2% Tuesday after the stock was downgraded and a report that federal authorities are considering charging company managers with manslaughter in connection with last year's disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. U.S.-listed shares of the London-based oil and gas company were down $1.16, or 2.5%, at $44.86 apiece. 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