Looking past which candidate won, the first US presidential debate on Monday night had a damaging effect on the private prisons business across the Atlantic.
The US Department of Justice had announced that it is planning to stop using private facilities to house its criminals last month, and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton took a moment to express her strong support for this move in front of the largest viewing audience of any political debate in history.
"I'm glad that we're ending private prisons in the federal system," Clinton declared. "I want to see them ended in the state system. You shouldn't have a profit motivation to fill prison cells with young Americans."
Her stance saw stocks in two leading, publicly-traded jail owners plummet during Tuesday trading.
Corrections Corp of America (CXW) – the largest private prison company in America – fell 6% this morning, with GEO Group taking a 4% hit.
Similar words from Clinton on Twitter had previously dented the value of the industry's shares.
"We need to end private prisons. Protecting public safety...should never be outsourced or left to unaccountable corporations." —Hillary
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 30, 2015
Despite her now-bullish stance, Vice reported last October that Clinton had accepted some $133,246 from both of the above companies.
The revelation prompted Clinton's campaign to announce that she would no longer accept contributions from these lobbyists and would donate any previous donations to charity.
In June, Corrections Corp CEO Damon Hininger told a REITWeek investor forum that his firm would be "just fine" regardless of who wins the race to the White House.
