Xilinx, Inc. said the Securities and Exchange Commission’s investigation of the company’s stock option granting practices has ended and there will be no enforcement action.
The semiconductor maker disclosed in June 2006 that the regulator had launched an informal inquiry into the company’s option-granting practices.
Xilinx also was one of about 27 companies facing backdating investigations that was singled out in a report by the Corporate Library for having directors in common with other companies under investigation. That report, which suggested director ties may have spread the practice of backdating, subsequently came under fire by several of the companies named for containing inaccuracies.
“We are extremely pleased to receive this notification from the SEC. We also would like to thank the members of our Special Committee for their comprehensive work in connection with the investigation,” said Wim Roelandts, Xilinx’s chairman, president and chief executive officer, in a statement.
An investigation conducted by an outside counsel previously found no evidence of fraud in the company’s practices in granting of stock options, nor any evidence of manipulation of the timing or exercise price of stock option grants, according to the company.
The company’s investigation also found no issues of management integrity in the issuance of stock options, it added.
The investigation determined that in nearly all cases, stock options were issued as of pre-set dates, it further noted.