Senator cites Snow conflict of interest in DP World deal

Senator cites Snow conflict of interest in DP World deal Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., in a letter to President Bush, expressed reservations about Treasury Secretary John Snow’s role in the approval process for Dubai Ports World to acquire U.K. port operator P&O’s U.S. facilities.
   Dodd noted the appearance of a conflict of interest related to CSX Corp., the company he previously headed. Snow was chief executive and chairman of the railroad company, which completed a deal in 2005 to sell its nine international port terminals, CSX World Terminals, to Dubai Ports International, the predecessor to DP World. The secretary of treasury serves as the chairman of Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).
   A Treasury Department official explained Tuesday that Snow did not recuse himself from the review because the CSX terminal deal took place more than 18 months after Snow left the company.
   But Dodd noted that Snow received $72.2 million compensation from CSX, including $33.2 million from a special retirement pension, and has a stake in a CSX deferred compensation plan worth between $5 million and $25 million. Dodd said it is unclear whether Snow was involved in any discussions related to the CSX-DP World sale before he resigned from the company in 2003.
   “Given the highly sensitive nature of this matter it would have been better had Secretary Snow not been the chair, or served in any capacity, of the CFIUS review in this case,” Dodd wrote.
   Dodd said Snow’s role in the process makes it even more important that the DP World takeover undergo a more extensive review and that Snow should remove himself from the process.