Sarbox Payback Slow in Coming

Since the enactment of Sarbanes-Oxley in 2002 through April of this year, the Securities and Exchange Commission had collected more than $4.8 billion in disgorgement and civil monetary penalties under the Sarbanes-Oxley “Fair Fund” provision, according to a report from the Government Accountabili...

By Dave Cook • Oct. 4, 2005

Another Look at Auditor Independence

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of the Chief Accountant is stepping back to take another look at its rules on auditor independence, according to deputy chief accountant Andrew Bailey. The ultimate goal, says Bailey, would be to simplify those rules without watering them down.Altho...

By Helen Shaw • Oct. 3, 2005

SEC Eyes Delphi Stock Trading

The Securities and Exchange Commission has subpoenaed the stock-trading records of more than one dozen current and former Delphi Corp. employees, including four former finance executives, reported the Detroit News.The finance executives include chief financial officer Alan Dawes, controller Paul ...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 29, 2005

Finite-Related Subpoena for Fairfax

Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. announced that it received a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission as part of the regulator’s investigation into certain loss mitigation products, also known as finite insurance.The Toronto-based property-casualty and reinsurance company added that t...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 26, 2005

Agencies Extend Deadlines after Katrina

Federal agencies continue to be flexible with companies and their workers when enforcing rules and regulations in the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina.In a joint notice, the Internal Revenue Service and the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) of the Department of Labor announce...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 26, 2005

McDonough to Leave PCAOB

William McDonough said he will resign as chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, which was created to oversee the auditing industry in the wake of a number of high-profile corporate scandals. The 71-year-old McDonough said he will leave November 30 or when his successor is in p...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 23, 2005

SEC Proposes New Filing Deadlines

The Securities and Exchange Commission has recommended new deadlines for filing quarterly and annual reports, depending upon the size of the company.As part of its proposal, the SEC would create a new category called “large accelerated filers,” which would include companies with a market capitali...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 22, 2005

How Barter Can Aid Storm Victims

The disaster wreaked by Hurricane Katrina has prompted businesses to donate time, products, and money. Possibly unknown to many financial executives is a way that companies with large underperforming or non-performing assets could donate those goods to a charity and get cash for their fair value ...

By Helen Shaw • Sept. 22, 2005

AIG, Berkshire Estimate Katrina Losses

Officials at American International Group (AIG) and Berkshire Hathaway — two companies currently linked in a probe into alleged violations using finite insurance products — said their companies will probably each lose more than $1 billion from Hurricane Katrina.AIG executives noted that initial e...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 21, 2005

Eight Former Insurance Execs Indicted

New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer indicted eight former executives of Marsh Inc., a subsidiary of Marsh and McLennan Cos., for their roles in a massive bid rigging scheme that defrauded clients of millions of dollars.The indictment charges that from November 1998 to September 2004, th...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 15, 2005

Synopsys Shareholder Lawsuit Dismissed

Synopsys Inc., which makes semiconductor-design software, announced that a class-action lawsuit brought by shareholders has been dismissed.In August 2004, Synopsys announced preliminary results for its July 31 quarter that came in below its previous target range, according to a report at the time...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 14, 2005

Enron Broadband Retrial Divvied Up

Five former executives of Enron Broadband Services, whose case ended largely in a mistrial earlier this summer, will face a retrial next year — but not as a group.Lisa Monaco, a prosecutor for the Enron Task Force, said that the government would seek new indictments shortly for the five individua...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 12, 2005

Pre-Katrina Survey: Companies Complacent

Nearly one-third of U.S. companies do not have a business continuity planning in place, according to a survey by AT&T Corp. and the International Association of Emergency Managers conducted between January and August.Even more stunning — in the wake of the September 11 attacks, a widespread b...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 12, 2005

Nicolaisen on What’s Next for the SEC

Donald Nicolaisen, chief accountant for the Securities and Exchange Commission, is leaving public office in October to return to the private sector, but not before taking a few minutes to share some of his departing thoughts about the agency’s future.One major initiative will be “to follow up on ...

By Craig Schneider • Sept. 12, 2005

General Re CEO May Face SEC Charges

The Securities and Exchange Commission is mulling civil charges against Joseph Brandon, chief executive officer of General Reinsurance Corp., that could bar him from serving as an officer of a public company, according to Berkshire Hathaway Inc., General Re’s parent company. The charges would st...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 9, 2005

Short-Term Focus Can Be Riskier: Report

An excessive focus on short-term risk management can be hazardous to corporate health, suggests a new report from Deloitte & Touche LLP.The analysis, of U.K.-based businesses, may also serve up lessons for publicly traded companies in the United States and the rest of the world.Between 1995 a...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 8, 2005

Environmentally Bankrupt?

The American Smelting & Refining Co. (Asarco) has been the subject of contention ever since 1899, when it was established to consolidate William Rockefeller’s U.S. mining interests. In 1901, Meyer Guggenheim wrested control of the company from Rockefeller, merged Asarco with his established o...

By Marie Leone • Sept. 8, 2005

Seeing No Evil

Like many risk managers, Dave Hennes eagerly awaited notification about his company’s financial slice of the $850 million settlement that insurance broker Marsh reached last January 31 with New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. When Hennes, director of risk management at The Toro Co., learned ...

By Russ Banham • Sept. 8, 2005

BearingPoint Subject of Formal Probe

BearingPoint Inc. announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission has elevated its informal probe to a formal order of investigation. The company, formerly KPMG Consulting, added that it believes the subject matter of the formal investigation is substantially the same as of the probe, and t...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 7, 2005

Prosecutors Eye Ex-Chairman of MBIA

Former MBIA Inc. chairman and chief executive officer David H. Elliott is in the cross-hairs of federal prosecutors, who are probing the circumstances that led to the world’s largest bond insurer to restate seven years of earnings, according to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter.Th...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 6, 2005

No Criminal Charges for MCI

Although an investigation continues into the $11 billion accounting fraud at WorldCom, prosecutors will not press criminal charges against its successor, MCI Inc., according to press reports.A major reason that MCI and government officials were able to reach a non-prosecution agreement is because...

By Craig Schneider • Sept. 2, 2005

Siebel Prevails in Reg FD Case

In a surprise decision, a judge has dismissed a case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission against Siebel Systems and chief financial officer Kenneth Goldman alleging violations of Regulation Fair Disclosure.Reg FD, which took effect in 2000, bans U.S. public companies from selectivel...

By Craig Schneider • Sept. 1, 2005

Banks Face Suit on Mandatory Arbitration

A suit filed against eight of the nation’s largest credit-card companies alleges that they colluded to require customers to settle disputes through arbitration, reported The Wall Street Journal.The lawsuit, filed in a New York federal court last month, seeks class-action status on behalf of seven...

By Craig Schneider • Sept. 1, 2005

Apocalypse Soon

Risk — big, disruptive risk — is the theme of the day. It’s manifest in public concerns about terrorist attacks, nuclear proliferation, global warming, the end of oil, the trade deficit, the budget deficit, and the housing bubble. It’s rife in Corporate America, where large industries are totteri...

By Edward Teach • Sept. 1, 2005

Icahn Seeks 10 Percent of Time Warner

An investment group led by financier Carl Icahn, who is bent on encouraging management reform at Time Warner Inc., may make a tender offer to buy as much as 10 percent of the media conglomerate, according to Bloomberg. At the company’s current market price, that kind of encouragement would cost $...

By Craig Schneider • Aug. 31, 2005