Enron Settles Energy Claims for $1.52B

Enron Corp. has agreed to pay $1.52 billion to resolve charges that it manipulated the market and gouged prices in California and several other Western states during the 2000-2001 energy crisis, according to California Attorney General Bill Lockyer.Under the settlement, a number of California par...

By Stephen Taub • July 15, 2005

Former Enron VP Pleads Guilty

Former Enron Corp. vice president Christopher Calger has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to the Department of Justice.As part of his plea, Calger has agreed to cooperate with the Enron Task Force’s ongoing criminal investigation of the energy giant’s coll...

By Stephen Taub • July 15, 2005

ISS and IRRC to Merge

Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has agreed to acquire the commercial business of the Investor Responsibility Research Center (IRRC) in a merger of two fierce proxy-research rivals located in the Washington, D.C., area.ISS will pay in excess of $10 million, though it would not specify an ...

By Stephen Taub • July 14, 2005

A Refresher Course in Workers’ Comp

Finance executives wondering what’s wrong with the economics of health care at their organizations — not to mention the nation at large — might learn some lessons from the recently released audit report of the school district of Broward County, Florida. The report spells out the failures of the d...

By David Katz • July 14, 2005

Whistle-Blower Case Raises Timing Issue

A Sarbanes-Oxley whistle-blower complaint has raised new issues regarding the 2002 settlement between New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and major securities firms aimed at ensuring the independence of Wall Street research, reported Investment Dealers’ Digest.Arturo Cifuentes, who covered th...

By Stephen Taub • July 12, 2005

Influential Delaware Judge Slams Sarbox

Judge Leo Strine, a vice chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery, is no doubt a fan favorite among corporate lobbyists.In a speech delivered in London to the European Policy Forum, Strine made it very clear that he opposes the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, describing it as a “strange stew” that couple...

By Stephen Taub • July 6, 2005

White House Opposes TRIA Extension

The Bush Administration is urging Congress not to extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002, which requires the federal government to pick up the tab for certain commercial property and casualty losses resulting from foreign acts of terrorism.President Bush signed TRIA into law in the wake ...

By Stephen Taub • July 5, 2005

Greenberg Willing to Settle, Says Lawyer

After 80 years, Maurice Greenberg is showing some humility.The former chief executive officer of American International Group Inc. has indicated a willingness to work out a deal with New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to settle a fraud lawsuit, according to Bloomberg, citing Greenberg lawyer...

By Stephen Taub • July 5, 2005

Glassman Tapped as Acting SEC Chair

President Bush has named Cynthia Glassman as acting chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to the White House website. Glassman, an SEC commissioner since 2002, will fill in for fellow Republican William Donaldson, who stepped down on June 30.Late Thursday, the Bush administra...

By Stephen Taub • July 1, 2005

Donaldson: The Last Agenda

William Donaldson hasn’t spent his final days as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission simply attending congratulatory lunches and cleaning out his desk. On Wednesday — his next-to-last day on the job — Donaldson pushed through two agenda items in a sometimes acrimonious meeting amon...

By Stephen Taub • June 30, 2005

Three Parmalat Ex-CFOs Are Sentenced

Three former chief financial officers of Parmalat Finanziaria SpA were among 11 people receiving prison sentences ranging from 10 months to two and a half years in a trial stemming from the scandal at the Italian dairy group, according to the Associated Press.The 11 individuals faced charges that...

By Stephen Taub • June 29, 2005

Feds Turn Tables on Milberg, Weiss

Federal prosecutors are probing one of the most powerful and influential class-action law firms, Milberg, Weiss, Bershad, and Schulman, for alleged fraud, conspiracy, and kickbacks in dozens of securities lawsuits, according to The Wall Street Journal.The three-year investigation could lead to cr...

By Stephen Taub • June 28, 2005

Are Private Companies Embracing Sarbox?

Nearly one-third of fast-growing private companies plan to benefit from provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley even though they are not required to comply with the act, according to a new survey from PricewaterhouseCoopers.PwC interviewed the chief executive officers of 341 private companies, ranging in re...

By Stephen Taub • June 23, 2005

GE, CNA Receive Finite-Risk Subpoenas

General Electric Co. and Loews’ CNA are two of the latest companies to receive a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York as part of a growing investigation into finite risk insurance.General Electric, which stated that it intends to cooperate fully, added th...

By Stephen Taub • June 21, 2005

SEC’s Atkins: Back Off Company Fines

While senators gear up for the confirmation hearings of Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Calif.) — President Bush’s nominee for chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission — sitting commissioners are publicly staking out their agenda.At a luncheon organized by the Association of Public Corporations...

By Stephen Taub • June 21, 2005

Rigas Pair Receive Stiff Sentences

Adelphia Communications Corp. founder John Rigas and his son, former chief financial officer Timothy Rigas, received lengthy prison sentences for their roles in the massive fraud that bankrupted the cable company and became one of the more infamous corporate scandals of recent years.The 15-year s...

By Stephen Taub • June 20, 2005

SEC Probes Citgo on Employee Tip

Officials at Citgo Petroleum Corp. say the Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an informal inquiry into the company’s October 2004 buyback of $550 million in senior notes after receiving an anonymous letter containing allegations from an employee.The full nature of the allegations was...

By Stephen Taub • June 20, 2005

SEC’s Goldschmid Might Stay Longer

Securities and Exchange Commissioner Harvey Goldschmid might stay on for a little longer than planned, according to published reports.One of two Democrats among the five commissioners, Goldschmid’s term actually officially ended in June 2004. Under federal law, commissioners can remain at the SEC...

By Stephen Taub • June 17, 2005

Ford Motor Credit Will Amend Disclosures

The credit division of Ford Motor Co. has agreed to pay $700,000 to settle a dispute with the Securities and Exchange Commission over the marketing of its “Ford Money Market Account.”According to the commission, Ford Motor Credit Co. marketed the product as an investment comparable to a traditio...

By Stephen Taub • June 16, 2005

Alabama Fund Cuts Its Own Enron Deal

Nearly overlooked by the recent multibillion-dollar settlements in the Enron bankruptcy was the agreement between Alabama’s state pension fund and five investment banks.According to Reuters, the Retirement Systems of Alabama will receive $49 million, about 86 percent of the $57 million that the f...

By Stephen Taub • June 16, 2005

J.P. Morgan Chase to Pay $2.2B in Enron Settlement

JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to pay $2.2 billion as part of a broad settlement with investors stemming from its role as an investment banker to Enron Corp. The deal comes less than a week after Citigroup agreed to pay $2 billion to settle Enron shareholder claims.The Board of Regents of Univer...

By Stephen Taub • June 15, 2005

Mylan Doubles Dividend, Plans Repurchase

To fend off a hostile takeover by corporate raider Carl Icahn, pharmaceutical giant Mylan Laboratories Inc. announced that it will double its dividend and repurchase about one-quarter of its shares.The Canonsburg, Pennsylvania-based company stated that a $1.25 billion share buyback will consist o...

By Stephen Taub • June 15, 2005

Out of Business, but Not Off the Hook

Regulators are reminding errant executives that they will be vigorously pursued even if their illegal acts took place many years ago and their companies are currently out of business.Late last week Roys Poyiadjis, a former chief executive officer of defunct software maker AremisSoft Corp., agreed...

By Stephen Taub • June 13, 2005

How Might Rulemaking Change under Cox?

Ever since Christopher Cox was nominated to succeed William Donaldson as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, interested parties have been maneuvering to influence his confirmation, or at least his agenda.Donaldson, a Republican who was appointed by George W. Bush, has sid...

By Stephen Taub • June 13, 2005

SEC Seeks Info from Calpine

Calpine Corp. announced that the Division of Enforcement of the Securities and Exchange Commission has requested documents related to previous revisions of its reserves and financial statements.In a regulatory filing, Calpine elaborated that the SEC is seeking information related to its downward ...

By Stephen Taub • June 10, 2005