More Shareholders Back Green Schemes

Social issues are gaining ground among the governance set.More than one-quarter of the 179 social policy proposals voted on by shareholders this year received at least 20 percent support, according to data compiled through August 2006 by Proxy Governance Inc. This compares with just 12 percent of...

By Marie Leone • Sept. 13, 2006

Senate Urged to Fix Thompson Memo

At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday, witnesses ranging from corporate attorneys to U.S. Chamber of Commerce president Tom Donohue urged lawmakers to take action against the provisions of the Department of Justice’s so-called Thompson Memorandum.Written in 2003, the DoJ memo says that ...

By Sarah Johnson • Sept. 12, 2006

Former HealthSouth CFO Gets Three Years

A federal judge has sentenced former HealthSouth CFO Michael Martin to 36 months in prison, according to Reuters. It was the third time Martin has been sentenced for his role in the company’s $2.7 billion accounting scandal. The first time around, when he was sentenced to five months probation...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 12, 2006

Freddie Mac Thinks DOJ Probe’s Over

Freddie Mac says it thinks that the Justice Department is no longer investigating the company and the issues related to its massive accounting scandal, according to press reports.Company spokesman David Palombi told the Washington Post that the U.S. attorney’s office hasn’t contacted the company...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 12, 2006

CEO Not a College Grad, R.H. Donnelley Says

R.H. Donnelley confirmed that two press releases regarding the background of chief executive officer David C. Swanson incorrectly described Swanson’s education.The publisher of the yellow pages said Swanson did attend St. Cloud State University, from 1973 to 1976, but he did not earn a degree.The...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 11, 2006

Ex-CFO Helps Healthsouth Fight Scrushy

A former finance chief for HealthSouth is helping the company fight former CEO Richard Scrushy’s claims against the company for $35 million in legal fees, according to The Birmingham News, citing court filings.Mike Martin, who on Tuesday will be resentenced for his role in HealthSouth’s massive a...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 11, 2006

Judge Dismisses Suit Against Visteon

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against Visteon and four current and former executives, including two finance executives, according to Bloomberg News.Visteon was sued in February 2005 after it restated earnings. Shareholders alleged that certain company executives failed to disclose the r...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 8, 2006

Judge Okays Time Warner Settlements

Time Warner’s accounting scandal seems to be receding further into the past. A federal judge has approved settlements of a number of derivative lawsuits based on alleged accounting misconduct before and after the media giant’s ill-fated 2001merger with America Online Inc., according to Dow Jones ...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 7, 2006

SEC Launches Probe of XM Satellite

XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. said the Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an informal, inquiry into the company’s past financial disclosures.The company said that on Aug. 31, the SEC requested documents regarding its subscriber targets, costs associated with attempting to reach th...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 6, 2006

SEC Supports PCAOB in Lawsuit Defense

The Securities and Exchange Commission late Friday announced that it has joined a U.S. Department of Justice legal brief in support of the Public Company Accounting’ Oversight Board defense against a lawsuit challenging the PCAOB’s constitutionality.Filed in February, the lawsuit led by the Free ...

By Stephen Taub • Sept. 5, 2006

SEC Settles Stock Sale Case with Ex-CFO

The Securities and Exchange Commission settled an insider trading complaint yesterday against Stewart P. “Tom” Mitchell, former CFO of Ferguson Enterprises, one of the largest distributors of heating and cooling equipment in the U.S.The SEC had alleged that Mitchell was using material nonpublic i...

By Sarah Johnson • Aug. 31, 2006

Who’s Controlling the Controller?

One of the greatest sources of controversy in the business world in recent months has been whether small public companies are capable of maintaining the level of internal controls prescribed by section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.But even as that debate rages on, say experts, private companies ...

By Helen Shaw • Aug. 28, 2006

Study: Supplier Diversity Doesn’t Cost More

Companies wanting to expand their supplier diversity programs can do so without sacrificing savings, according to a recent report by The Hackett Group.While many executives may assume that proactive efforts to use women-or minority-owned suppliers result in higher costs or additional administrati...

By Sarah Johnson • Aug. 24, 2006

Lessons Learned

Until Katrina, many Gulf Coast businesses thought their disaster-recovery plans were pretty solid. As the first anniversary of the hurricane approaches, some of those companies have renovated the old plans or built new ones.Like other companies in the storm’s path, New Orleans–based Entergy has s...

By Allan Richter • Aug. 24, 2006

IMAX, Former CFO, and Others Sued

A class-action lawsuit has been filed against IMAX Corp., its former CFO, and two other executives alleging that they made “false and misleading statements” about the company’s financial health. The suit, at least the second one filed in the past week against the movie-theater company, charges th...

By Stephen Taub • Aug. 22, 2006

Shareholders Seek Political Spending Receipt

With almost all of the results from the 2006 proxy season in, it is clear that some shareholders have their eyes on another season: the coming November elections.Indeed, the number and sophistication of shareholder resolutions related to corporate political contributions continues to rise. “The g...

By Helen Shaw • Aug. 22, 2006

Former Church CFO Indicted by FBI

A former treasurer and CFO of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland was indicted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation last week for an alleged kickback scheme totaling $784,000, according to an FBI statement.Joseph F. Smith, the former Cleveland finance chief who is now finance director of th...

By Marie Leone • Aug. 21, 2006

Cisco Settles Suit for $92 Million

Cisco Systems Inc. has agreed to pay nearly $92 million to settle a class- action lawsuit filed against the company and certain current and former directors and officers.Filed in 2001, the lawsuit charged that the company misled buyers of its stock. The plaintiffs also alleged that defendants nam...

By Stephen Taub • Aug. 18, 2006

Lay Innocent? No Way, Feds Say

Attorneys representing Kenneth Lay’s estate are moving toward erasing the convictions and dismissing the indictment against the former Enron Corp. chairman, who died on July 5, of heart failure. However, Federal prosecutors are determined not to let this happen.Prosecutors made it clear that the...

By Tim Reason and Stephen Taub • Aug. 17, 2006

Defending Against Backdating Suits

Some shareholder lawsuits linked to backdating stock option grants are more straightforward than others. Consider the headline-grabbing case of Kobi Alexander, the former Comverse Technology CEO. The Wall Street Journal reported that Alexander allegedly fled the country to avoid a backdating inve...

By Marie Leone • Aug. 16, 2006

New CFO Steps into the Fire at CA

When Nancy Cooper officially takes over as executive vice president and CFO of CA on Tuesday, she begins a one-month race with the clock to help the company avert fraud and obstruction of justice charges. Cooper, who formerly served as finance chief for IMS Health Inc., a provider of pharmaceutic...

By Stephen Taub • Aug. 15, 2006

Feds Want Skilling to Pay Lay’s Share

The government wants restitution from the collapse of Enron Corp. and is hoping that former CEO Jeffrey Skilling pays the tab.Skilling may have to cough up nearly $183 million if federal prosecutors are able to get their way, according to the Associated Press. In June, prosecutors asked U.S. Dist...

By Stephen Taub • Aug. 14, 2006

Nacchio Prosecutor Withdraws from Case

The lead prosecutor in the Joseph Nacchio insider-trading case, Bill Leone, has withdrawn because he is returning to private practice.Leone, the acting U.S. Attorney for Colorado, said he will stay to help with the transition, according to the Associated Press. He is the second prosecutor to leav...

By Stephen Taub • Aug. 11, 2006

Former Wal-Mart Exec Avoids Prison

Wal-Mart’s former number-two executive is not going to prison after all.Thomas Coughlin was sentenced Friday in federal court to 27 months of home detention and five years of probation, according to the Associated Press. He had earlier pleaded guilty to stealing money, merchandise, and gift cards...

By Stephen Taub • Aug. 11, 2006

CFO Resigns, Company Settles Suit

Willbros Group announced on Thursday that Warren Williams resigned as senior vice president and chief financial officer.In a separate announcement, the independent energy contractor said it agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing the company and three present and former officers and dire...

By Marie Leone • Aug. 10, 2006