Another Tyco Trial Looms Next Week

While commentators continue to revisit last week’s mistrial of two former Tyco executives, a former colleague is due in court this week, in anticipation of a trial scheduled to begin next Monday.Mark Belnick, former executive vice president and chief corporate counsel of Tyco International Ltd., ...

By Stephen Taub • April 6, 2004

Ebbers Prosecutors Get on the Same Page

Oklahoma authorities will defer to federal prosecutors in the matter of former WorldCom chief executive officer Bernard Ebbers — even at the expense of losing some counts to the statute of limitations — according to ChannelOklahoma.com.On Friday, not long after Judge Michael Obus declared a mistr...

By Dave Cook • April 5, 2004

Hearing Voices at Proxy Time

The Walt Disney Co.’s annual shareholder meeting this past March made headlines for the unprecedented rebellion of large investors that led Michael Eisner to step down as chairman. But smaller investors had already been debating this topic for weeks, thanks to a new Web site for shareholder activ...

By Kate O'Sullivan • April 5, 2004

Tyco Case a Mistrial, Judge Rules

The judge in the corruption trial of Tyco’s ex-chairman, Dennis Kozlowski, and its former CFO, Mark Swartz, declared a mistrial today after 12 days of deliberations, according to press reports..Citing outside pressure on one of the jurors that left him with no choice, New York State Supreme Court...

By David Katz • April 2, 2004

Prosecutors: Go Light on Lea Fastow

Prosecutors urged a judge not to sentence Lea Fastow for more time than she agreed to under a plea bargain deal, since her conduct did not play a role in Enron’s collapse, according to the Houston Chronicle.Fastow, the wife of former Enron CFO Andrew Fastow, is slated to be sentenced next week fo...

By Stephen Taub • April 2, 2004

Former McKesson CFO Indicted for Fraud

An ex-finance chief of McKesson Corp. was indicted on Tuesday for his role in the drug wholesaler’s accounting fraud.The U.S. Attorney’s Office indicted Richard Hawkins on charges of conspiracy and securities fraud. Civil securities fraud charges were also filed against Hawkins by the Securities ...

By Stephen Taub • April 1, 2004

Monsters Inc.

At Forrester Research Inc., analysts get to try out the latest cool technology for themselves: PDAs, Wi-Fi laptops, nifty storage devices. Their jobs also call for reviewing much more mundane technology, like network “sniffing” software and intrusion-detection devices.Testing such tools has led t...

By Russ Banham • April 1, 2004

SEC Settles with Five Specialist Firms

Five New York Stock Exchange specialist firms have agreed to pay $242 million as part of a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over alleged trading abuses.The five firms, which will shell out nearly $88 million in civil penalties and $154 million in disgorgement, also agreed to...

By Stephen Taub • March 31, 2004

Tyco Jury Regains Its Focus

Go back and deliberate.Those were the instructions of the judge in the Tyco fraud case, who turned down defense requests on Monday that he declare a mistrial due to unusual press coverage of one of the jurors.“We can’t let what’s in the newspapers dictate what happens,” said New York State Suprem...

By Stephen Taub • March 30, 2004

SEC Investigating Tyson Foods

The Securities and Exchange Commission has launched a formal probe of payments made to certain officers and directors at Tyson Foods Inc., including former senior chairman Don Tyson and current chairman and chief executive officer John Tyson.According to the beef and poultry processor, the invest...

By Stephen Taub • March 30, 2004

Tyco’s Twelve Angry Men and Women

Friday was a short day for the Tyco jurors. Perhaps the unusually balmy weekend weather in New York will help clear their heads of the “poisonous” atmosphere in the jury room, as they described it last week in a note to the judge.Another note, sent early Friday afternoon to New York State Supreme...

By Stephen Taub and Dave Cook • March 29, 2004

Food Fight

If only that mad cow in Washington State were the worst beef facing U.S. trade representatives. Sure, it’s payback time for the countries whose meat was once banned here. But the United States has far more countries frothing at the mouth over the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act (CDSOA), ...

By Tim Reason • March 29, 2004

Pension Funds Taking More Risk

U.S. pension funds are taking on a little more risk in an effort to keep pace with their growing pension obligations. In addition, they are interviewing and hiring new investment managers at an unprecedented rate as they search for innovative strategies, according to a pair of new studies recentl...

By Stephen Taub • March 29, 2004

Former Dynegy Executive Gets 24 Years

A federal judge handed down a 24-year sentence yesterday under tough new rules intended to punish white-collar criminals.Jamie Olis, once a midlevel executive at Houston-based energy company Dynegy Inc., and two former associates were found guilty last year of disguising a $300 million loan to th...

By Dave Cook • March 26, 2004

Europe Seeks Record Fine for Microsoft

Mario Monti, the European competition commissioner who in the past has blocked a number of large, high-profile mergers, is seeking to fine Microsoft Corp. $613 million for allegedly abusing its Windows monopoly, according to the Financial Times.This would be the highest penalty imposed on a compa...

By Stephen Taub • March 24, 2004

Rigas Family Wins Funds from Insurers

A federal judge awarded $300,000 each to five former executives of Adelphia Communications involved in civil lawsuits, ruling that an insurer cannot unilaterally rescind a directors’ and officers’ liability policy, according to The Legal Intelligencer.“Insurance carriers do not function as courts...

By Stephen Taub • March 24, 2004

Parmalat Accountants on the Defensive

Parmalat’s accountants helped falsify the food giant’s books and failed to blow the whistle on its finances soon enough, stated a document prepared by Italian prosecutors, according to Reuters.Late last week prosecutors identified 29 people and three institutions that they want to put on trial fo...

By Stephen Taub • March 23, 2004

Skilling’s Legal Tab Tops $23 Million

Jeff Skilling is rapidly racking up those legal costs.The indicted former Enron chief executive officer has shelled out $23 million to his lawyers already, according to Reuters.Nonetheless, in Houston, U.S. District Judge Sim Lake let stand a restraining order that freezes $55 million of Skilling...

By Stephen Taub • March 22, 2004

Fastow Sentencing Date Delayed

Andrew Fastow won’t be moving into his new one-room digs anytime soon.The former Enron chief financial officer, who has agreed to spend 10 years in prison as part of his plea deal, had his scheduled sentencing delayed.He was initially expected to be officially sentenced in April, but U.S. Distric...

By Stephen Taub • March 22, 2004

CMS Settles SEC Round-Trip Charges

CMS Energy Corp. announced a settlement Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding $5.2 billion in round-trip energy transactions by a subsidiary, reported the Houston Business Journal.Former controller Terry Wooley agreed to a cease-and-desist order not to engage in further e...

By Stephen Taub • March 19, 2004

GE to Seek Shareholder OK on Severance

Companies are becoming increasingly responsive to shareholders in this age of Sarbanes-Oxley and high-profile executive trials. A growing number of companies are acting on shareholder wishes that are not binding — and sometimes that have not garnered majority support.The most recent example: Gene...

By Stephen Taub • March 19, 2004

‘Tis the Season to Delay SEC Filings

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. announced that it won’t be able to file its annual report by the March 30 deadline, but that it will file “as soon as practicable” following the resolution of an investigation into its overseas accounting problems.HealthSouth Corp., which is also being investiga...

By Stephen Taub • March 18, 2004

DPL Controller Alleges Self-Dealing

The controller of DPL Inc. has charged the Ohio utility’s top executives with self-dealing, according to the Dayton Daily News.DPL controller Daniel Thobe’s March 10 internal memo — which the News says it received anonymously — was addressed to W. August Hillenbrand, chairman of the company’s fin...

By Stephen Taub • March 18, 2004

Martha Stewart Resigns from MSO Board

As expected, Martha Stewart has resigned as a director and chief creative officer of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. (MSO). She will assume the newly created position of founding editorial director and will report to the company’s CEO, Sharon Patrick.According to the company, Stewart will co...

By Stephen Taub • March 16, 2004

Tough New Accounting Rules for Europe

The European Commission will announce new rules tomorrow to shore up corporate governance and compliance, according to Reuters.Mindful of tougher U.S. rules for public companies and auditors, and fresh off a rash of its own accounting scandals, the EC is expected to propose an independent supervi...

By Stephen Taub • March 15, 2004