Standard & Poor's Withdraws Sino-Forest Rating

Toronto, Aug 29: Standard & Poor's withdrew its rating on troubled Chinese timberland company Sino-Forest Corp. on Monday amid growing allegations of fraud and the resignation of chairman and chief executive Allen Chan.

Chan resigned on Sunday, two days after the Ontario Securities Commission halted trading in the Toronto Stock Exchange-listed company for 15 days, saying Sino-Forest exaggerated the size of its forest holdings in China.

"We lowered the rating on Sino-Forest partly because we believe recent developments point towards a higher likelihood that allegations of fraud at the company will be substantiated," said Standard & Poor's analyst Frank Lu.

"The downgrade also reflects our opinion about the severity of the difficulties the company now faces in operating its existing business and our view that the pressure on liquidity has increased."

From: http://ping.fm/HrK3I