BlackBerry maker getting the probe on options backdating

The Ontario Securities Commission has launched a probe of Research In Motion’s stock option practices. An OSC spokesperson said the review was launched in early October, which is not long after the company announced it would have to restate past financials because of its options accounting.

Another tech company is having difficulties with their options accounting. The reason is clear: the prevalence of stock options as compensation in cash-strapped startups.

RIM revealed Oct. 28 that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had launched an “informal inquiry” into the way the company granted stock options. RIM did not disclose information about any similar OSC probe.

And the SEC had announced an investigation over a week earlier! Seems to me that the two major commissions in North America should have been communication between them.

This whole options backdating thing seems to me like it’s something you would intuitively know is against the rules, isn’t it?