Daniel Scotto

Who is Daniel Scotto?

Daniel "Dan" Scotto is an American financial analyst. In August 2001, as an analyst with BNP Paribas, Scotto downgraded Enron securities from "Buy" to "Neutral". He took this action four months before the Enron accounting scandal was revealed that led to the company's bankruptcy. Scotto claims that he was fired due to this decision, a claim that is disputed by BNP Paribas. According to the March 2002 Publication of Infrastructure and Financial Markets Review, the Enron report “All Stressed-up… And No Place To Go” issued by Dan Scotto was characterized by BNP Paribas as “we don’t think it was a good recommendation or a reasonable one.” At the time Enron’s stock was trading at in a range of $35 to $40 per share which “…provided investors with a good opportunity to cut their losses.” Over coming months the stock declined. By the end of September it had dipped below $30 a share; on 22 October, as the scale of Enron's accounting practices became apparent, the price fell to $20.65, and within three weeks it had dropped below $10. The shares were delisted from the New York Stock Exchange on 15 January 2002, having traded below $1 for thirty consecutive days.

Mr. Scotto had previously spent the better part of three decades researching, analyzing and issuing reports on the Utility Industry. He worked at Standard & Poor’s in the Corporate Bond Rating division, with primary analytical responsibilities to assign bond ratings to electric, gas and telephone industries. From 1982-1988, Scotto served as Director of Corporate Bond Research for L. F. Rothschild and head of its utility analytical team. Mr. Scotto then moved to Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette where he was Director of High Grade and High Yield Corporate Bond research until 1994, and was then recruited by Bear Stearns as Managing Director of High Grade, High Yield, and Emerging Market Research as well as Senior Electric Utility analyst. In April 2000, Mr. Scotto moved to BNP Paribas as Director of U.S. High Grade Research and Senior Utility Analyst. Following the Enron report released while at BNP Paribas and his subsequent firing, in 2002 Mr. Scotto founded Whitehall Financial Advisors LLC to offer independent research, forensic financial analysis, consulting services to corporate clients, institutional investors and State and Federal legislators.