Suit Seeks Countrywide’s Books, Records

A Delaware judge will allow a “books and records” lawsuit to proceed against Countrywide Financial, reported the Associated Press.The lawsuit had been filed by the Louisiana Municipal Police Employees Retirement System, which reportedly is looking for further information on Countrywide’s stock-op...

By Stephen Taub • April 9, 2007

Real Estate: Give and Take

Some of the most eye-catching deals at the start of 2007 have been about property — the record $40 billion (€31 billion) private equity takeover in the US of Equity Office Properties Trust, a real estate investment trust (REIT); Swiss Re’s record £600m (€900m) sale-and-leaseback of the landmark “...

By Eila Rana • April 6, 2007

New Trial Set in Enron Barge Case

Three former Merrill Lynch employees seem likely to be retried in the so-called Nigerian barge case, tied to an alleged Enron bogus-profits scheme.Their initial convictions were overturned on appeal last year, and U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein had hoped prosecutors and defense lawyers would r...

By Stephen Taub • April 5, 2007

More Firms to Make Political Disclosures

A dozen companies have recently adopted political disclosure and accountability policies, according to a group of shareholder activists.Aetna, Colgate-Palmolive, DuPont, FirstEnergy, Pfizer, WellPoint, and Xcel Energy will report trade-association payments used for political purposes as part of t...

By Stephen Taub • April 4, 2007

Earth, Wind, and Fire

To say that Jack MacDonald’s company sells hot air would be wrong. In fact, EcoSecurities, where MacDonald is CFO, sells the absence of hot air. The Dublin-based, London-listed firm is one of many companies which develop projects to cut greenhouse gases in China, India and other developing countr...

By Jason Karaian • April 4, 2007

Paperless Proxies

The long-anticipated “eProxy” ruling from the Securities and Exchange Commission will go into effect on July 1, to the relief of companies and their investor-relations departments. The new rule may allow companies to almost entirely bypass the costly process of printing and shipping proxy stateme...

By Laura DeMars • April 4, 2007

Tenet, Execs Charged in Earnings Scheme

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Tenet Healthcare and four former senior executives for failing to disclose that the company’s earnings growth from 1999 to 2002 was due largely to a Medicare reimbursement loophole.When Tenet finally revealed to investors that its strategy was not su...

By Stephen Taub and Dave Cook • April 3, 2007

Up in Smoke?

In a decision that could have serious repercussions for U.S. corporations, on Monday the Supreme Court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency does have the authority to regulate CO2 emissions from automobiles. The verdict settles a case filed by 12 states, 13 environmental groups, the Dis...

By John Goff • April 3, 2007

Enron: And Then There Were 15?

A former Enron executive who had earlier pleaded guilty to wire fraud may soon be legally off the hook thanks to an appeals court ruling last year. Christopher Calger, former vice president in charge of the West Power Origination Group of Enron North America, pleaded guilty in 2005 to wire fraud ...

By Stephen Taub • April 2, 2007

Cleaning Up Carbon

In January, the United Nations’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change — a group of scientists and government officials from 113 countries — issued its much-anticipated fourth report on global warming. In it, the panel not only indicated that global warming is worsening, but that the rise in ...

By John Goff • April 1, 2007

Trash Authority Makes Best of Enron Deal

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority (CRRA) have announced a $16.25 million settlement with Hartford-based Murtha Cullina over the law firm’s advice on a deal between the CRRA and Enron.According to the announcement, the deal called for ...

By Stephen Taub • March 30, 2007

JPMorgan-Enron Lawsuit Dismissed

A federal judge has dismissed a class-action lawsuit alleging that JPMorgan Chase helped Enron conceal fraud, according to published accounts.The JPMorgan shareholders who brought the suit claimed that they invested in the bank based on its reputation for integrity and financial discipline, but t...

By Stephen Taub • March 30, 2007

Cargo Company’s Records Lost in Transit

The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that it has settled charges against Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings for violating financial reporting, recordkeeping, and internal-control provisions of the federal securities laws from 2000 through the second quarter of 2002.Among the recordkeepi...

By Stephen Taub • March 30, 2007

Earnings Bloated at Gas Distributor

Nicor, a natural gas distributor, and Jeffrey Metz, a former assistant vice president and controller, have agreed to settle civil fraud charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission.The SEC alleged that from 1999 to 2002, they engaged in improper transactions, made material misrepresentatio...

By Stephen Taub • March 29, 2007

CFO to Pay $51M for Fraud, Sarbox Breach

Steven Garfinkel, former chief financial officer of defunct health-care finance company DVI, was sentenced to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay $51 million in restitution, reported the Philadelphia Business Journal.Last December, Garfinkel pleaded guilty to mail fraud and to violating the pr...

By Stephen Taub and Dave Cook • March 29, 2007

MedQuist Settles Shareholder Suit

MedQuist disclosed that it has agreed to pay $7.75 million to settle a shareholder class-action lawsuit filed against the company and several former officers.The provider of medical transcription and health information management services, which trades on the Pink Sheets, added that neither the c...

By Stephen Taub • March 28, 2007

SEC Charges Two for Enron’s Brazil Deal

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged two former Enron lawyers for their role in the sale of a Brazilian power project to one of the company’s infamous partnerships.The SEC alleged that Jordan H. Mintz, former vice president and general counsel of Enron’s global finance group, and Re...

By Dave Cook and Stephen Taub • March 28, 2007

High Court to Weigh “Scheme Liability”

The Supreme Court has agreed to rule on whether a company’s shareholders can sue its suppliers, or other “secondary actors” that do business with it, when the company is alleged to have committed securities fraud.The case at hand involves StoneRidge Investment Partners and its stake in cable tele...

By Dave Cook and Stephen Taub • March 27, 2007

Will SEC’s Budget Focus Spell Corporate Relief?

The Securities and Exchange Commission will use this year’s relatively modest budget increase to focus on high-tech and down-home issues, rather than the corporate giant-slaying it has tackled in past years.In testimony before Congress on Tuesday, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox formally requested t...

By Alan Rappeport • March 27, 2007

SEC Unit Eyes Swifter Fraud Payouts

The Securities and Exchange Commission is creating a new office dedicated to disbursing money to investors harmed in securities-fraud cases. Under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the SEC became the fund holder for the disgorgement and fines it collects in such cases. While the regulator has done ...

By Sarah Johnson • March 27, 2007

Fly Right, PBGC Tells Northwest

Northwest Airlines, which will retain “billions of dollars” in pension liabilities under a bankruptcy reorganization plan, must clarify its financial position for creditors, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. reportedly stated in a court filing.According to the Associated Press, the PBGC added th...

By Stephen Taub • March 26, 2007

PCAOB Drums Up Support in Asia

The group that oversees the accounting profession has reached out to its counterparts in Asia to discuss cooperation on auditor oversight. Mark Olson, chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and board member Charles Niemeier participated in a meeting of the International...

By Stephen Taub • March 23, 2007

SEC Censures AMEX for Lax Controls

The Securities and Exchange Commission has censured the American Stock Exchange for failing to enforce compliance with securities laws and rules, as well as failing to comply with its record-keeping obligations. In addition, the SEC instituted administrative proceedings against Salvatore F. Sodan...

By Stephen Taub • March 23, 2007

Class Action Settlements Past Their Peak

The size of securities class action settlements mushroomed in 2006, according to a new study from Cornerstone Research.Excluding last year’s $6.6 billion partial settlement of the Enron litigation (and the prior year’s $6.2 billion WorldCom settlement fund), the total value of settled cases grew ...

By Stephen Taub • March 22, 2007

Judge Throws Out Suit Challenging PCAOB

In a major blow to the burgeoning efforts to chip away at the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, a U.S. District Court judge on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Sarbox’s creation of a separate body to oversee the accounting industry, according to press reports. Judge James Robe...

By Stephen Taub • March 22, 2007