SEC Slow on the Uptake, Says GAO

The Securities and Exchange Commission has been slow to comply with recommendations by the Government Accountability Office regarding internal controls and accounting procedures, according to the congressional watchdog agency.The GAO reported that three material weaknesses in internal controls, w...

By Stephen Taub • April 25, 2006

I Would Have Challenged WSJ, Says Lay

Examine our Enron archiveOn his second day of testimony, Kenneth Lay told jurors that he wanted to respond to Wall Street Journal inquiries before the newspaper published what turned out to be a damaging story about Enron’s accounting practices, but his advisers talked him out of it.The former En...

By Stephen Taub • April 25, 2006

Lay: No Recall of ”Dire Straits”

Examine our Enron archiveIn Tuesday afternoon testimony, Kenneth Lay disputed the assertion of Andrew Fastow that Lay was aware the company was in “dire straits” on August 15, 2001 — the day after Jeffrey Skilling left the company — according to the Houston Chronicle.In fact, Lay reportedly told ...

By Stephen Taub • April 25, 2006

Lay Backs Skilling’s Story

Examine our Enron archiveTestifying in the afternoon of his first day on the witness stand, former Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay corroborated ex-CEO Jeffrey Skilling’s explanation for why Skilling left Enron Corp. in the summer of 2001.Lay said Skilling told him he was leaving for personal reasons, ...

By Stephen Taub • April 24, 2006

Lay: Fastow Was ”Basically Stealing”

Examine our Enron archiveFormer Enron Corp. Chairman Kenneth Lay, who took the stand today in his trial in Houston, denied he was part of a wide conspiracy to defraud, instead blaming his former chief financial officer, short sellers, negative newspaper articles, and a weak post-Sept. 11 stock ma...

By Stephen Taub • April 24, 2006

Small Biz 404 Report Heads to SEC

On Thursday, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Advisory Committee on Smaller Public Companies officially approved recommendations intended to ease the task of complying with key provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for thousands of small public companies. The recommendations will be submit...

By Stephen Taub and Tim Reason • April 21, 2006

Always Late

The number of companies that were late with their 2005 filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission fell 30 percent, to 203, from the year before, according to a recent report published by Glass, Lewis.The proxy-research firm also found that only 63 late filers cited incomplete internal-cont...

By Stephen Taub • April 21, 2006

Skilling Stands Down

Examine our Enron archive.Former Enron chief executive Jeffrey Skilling completed his testimony Thursday, setting the stage for his former boss, Kenneth Lay, to take the stand next week.Outside the courthouse, Skilling told reporters, “It’s been a tough six years; it’s been a really hard six year...

By Stephen Taub • April 21, 2006

Conspiracy Against 404 Exemptions?

A member of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Advisory Committee on Smaller Public Companies has accused former SEC chief accountant Lynn Turner of coordinating a media campaign opposing the committee’s proposals to scale down Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley for small companies.“We do know a...

By Helen Shaw • April 21, 2006

HIPAA e-Rule Surprises Small Businesses

U.S. law has protected the privacy of employee health data since 1996. But until last year, the appearance of that data on company computer screens was mostly protected by rules of thumb, like so-called “cleaning woman” and “shoulder surfing” policies. In both cases, company policies generally en...

By Marie Leone • April 20, 2006

Sentencing Delayed for Former Qwest CFO

Former Qwest Communications International finance chief Robin Szeliga has won a slight reprieve.U.S. District Judge Walker Miller postponed her sentencing for insider trading until July 28, reported the Associated Press, but refused the government’s request to delay the matter until the end of th...

By Stephen Taub • April 20, 2006

Prosecution Wraps Up Skilling Cross-exam

Examine our Enron archiveOn Wednesday, former Enron chief executive officer Jeffrey Skilling made it through a third day of questioning by prosecutor Sean Berkowitz, then was handed over to defense attorney Daniel Petrocelli for re-direct.Skilling, on trial with former chairman Kenneth Lay, is ex...

By Stephen Taub • April 19, 2006

Skilling Defends $200 Million Asset Move

Examine our Enron archiveJeffrey Skilling challenged assertions by the prosecution that he transferred the trading portion of Enron’s retail division in the first quarter of 2001 to hide $200 million in losses, according to the Associated Press.On a third day of cross-examination by prosecutor Se...

By Stephen Taub • April 19, 2006

Prosecutor, Skilling Spar over Earnings

Examine our Enron archiveTense exchanges between prosecutor Sean Berkowitz and former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling grew testier on Tuesday during cross-examination on the company’s quarterly earnings. The period in question was the second quarter of 2000. The issue: whether Skilling directed Enron ...

By Stephen Taub • April 18, 2006

Skilling Feels Pressure on Cross-exam

Examine our Enron archiveThe prosecution continues to pressure former Enron chief executive officer Jeffrey Skilling about the partnership deals known as the Raptors, and on Tuesday, the pressure began to show.On Skilling’s second day of cross-examination, prosecutor Sean Berkowitz accused him of...

By Stephen Taub • April 18, 2006

What Enron Analysts Knew, and When

Examine our Enron archiveProsecutor Sean Berkowitz and former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling were at odds Monday afternoon over what analysts knew about the company’s financial health, and when they knew it.During the first afternoon of cross-examination, Berkowitz scoffed at Skilling’s assertion tha...

By Stephen Taub • April 17, 2006

Government Puts No Stock in Skilling Story

Examine our Enron archiveProsecutor Sean Berkowitz began his cross-examination of Jeffrey Skilling on Monday by asserting that the former Enron CEO and his co-defendant, Kenneth Lay, were the “captains of the ship” and that Skilling has his “hand firmly on the wheel,” reported the Houston Chronic...

By Stephen Taub • April 17, 2006

Skilling Rails against Government’s Case

Examine our Enron archiveFormer Enron Corp. chief executive officer Jeffrey Skilling railed against prosecutors for “re-writing history” by twisting the facts surrounding the former energy giant’s collapse, according to several published reports.As his attorney Daniel Petrocelli continued going d...

By Stephen Taub • April 13, 2006

Is SOX Driving Small Companies Overseas?

Is increased initial public offering activity overseas the result of regulatory burdens in the U.S.? On Wednesday, members of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Advisory Committee on Smaller Public Companies fretted over that question as they discussed the SEC’s implementation of the Sarban...

By Helen Shaw • April 12, 2006

Skilling Defense Picks Away at Charges

Examine our Enron archiveDaniel Petrocelli, the lead defense attorney for Jeffrey Skilling, stepped his client point by point through a number of the prosecution’s 28 charges during Wednesday afternoon testimony.The former Enron chief executive officer took issue with the testimony of David Delai...

By Stephen Taub • April 12, 2006

LJM ”Horrible Idea,” Skilling Says Now

Examine our Enron archiveIn retrospect, the controversial LJM partnerships were a “horrible idea,” former Enron chief executive officer Jeffrey Skilling told jurors on his third day of testimony, according to The Washington Post.He tempered that judgment by referring to them as a “bad idea,” adde...

By Stephen Taub • April 12, 2006

Why Leave 404 to Your Auditors?

Perhaps much of the cost and burden of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act could be eliminated if a company’s auditors weren’t the only ones who could attest to its internal controls. That controversial idea was one of three new proposals discussed at a Securities and Exchange Commission committee meeting on ...

By Marie Leone • April 12, 2006

LJM Was A-OK, Says Skilling

Examine our Enron archiveFormer Enron chief executive officer Jeffrey Skilling acknowledged on Tuesday that the controversial LJM partnerships posed a conflict of interest because they were run by then-CFO Andrew Fastow, according to published accounts. Skilling insisted, however, that both he an...

By Stephen Taub • April 11, 2006

Skilling Bats Away More Allegations

Examine our Enron archiveOn his second day on the witness stand, former Enron chief executive officer Jeffrey Skilling refuted several key allegations of prosecutors, who have charged him with 28 criminal counts of fraud and conspiracy.Under questioning by his lawyer Daniel Petrocelli, Skilling d...

By Stephen Taub • April 11, 2006

CFO Whistle-blower Still in Limbo

The Department of Labor’s Administrative Review Board has affirmed a judge’s order that a bank must rehire a former CFO who was the nation’s first Sarbanes-Oxley whistle-blower, but it doesn’t seem to have settled the matter.In late 2002, David Welch was fired as chief financial officer of Floyd,...

By Alix Stuart and Stephen Taub • April 10, 2006