Tech companies are the primary focus of the SEC’s recently announced and currently ongoing investigation into options dating irregularities, which makes sense given their proclivity for awarding stock options as part of compensation packages with employees. An article in BusinessWeek documents what tech company executives have recently termed a “witch hunt”: Many executives are surprisedContinue reading “Options backdating investigation not making the SEC any friends”
Tag Archives: options
Google the mutual fund company
No, Google isn’t managing investments. They’re still devoted to “organizing the world’s information,” but that doesn’t matter to the SEC. A rule enacted in 1940 could cause increased regulatory headaches for the company. Companies whose securities make up more than 40 percent of their assets can fall under restrictions that govern the mutual fund industry.Continue reading “Google the mutual fund company”
First options backdating investigation initiated by SEC
Brocade Communications Systems has become the first company to be formally investigated by the SEC regarding the recent options backdating issue. According to the SEC’s complaint document, which names three former executives of the company as plaintiffs, from 2000 through 2004 the company inflated net income by understating their options-related expense through fraudulent schemes toContinue reading “First options backdating investigation initiated by SEC”
SEC looking into auditors in options backdating investigation
The SEC has announced it’s going to be including companies’ external auditors in their investigation into options timing abuses commonly known as backdating. Authorities were said to be looking at what auditors knew about company manipulation of options’ grant dates and exercise prices to boost their value to executives who got them. About 30 companiesContinue reading “SEC looking into auditors in options backdating investigation”
Does the media understand public accounting?
The short answer is no. Here is a story from the Associated Press that claims the FASB is going to “tackle the thorny question of accounting for leased equipment and property.” Excuse me? Have we just been ignoring leases until this point? Does any journalist do research any more? Lease accounting isn’t new, although itContinue reading “Does the media understand public accounting?”