Morgan Keegan suits loom large over Regions Financial May 2, 2009
On the tail end of the 2001 recession after investors became leery of the corporate bond market amid the infamous accounting scandal these funds, overflowing with slices of subprime, Alt-A and mobile-home loans took off, outperforming traditional funds. But the party didn t even last a decade. (Birmingham Business Journal, AL)
Ex-General Re executive is sentenced May 1, 2009
HARTFORD - A former executive of Connecticut-based General Re Corp. was sentenced yesterday to a year and a day in prison for his role in an accounting scandal that authorities say cost shareholders of more than $500 million. Robert Graham, 61, of Westport, will also have to serve two years of supervised release and pay a $100,000 fine. (Boston Globe)
Citigroup Plans to Sell Nikko Cordial to Sumitomo Mitsui for $5.2 Billion Apr 29, 2009
Nikko Accounting Scandal ... Citigroup offered to buy Nikko Cordial in 2007 after the Japanese securities firm was battered by an accounting scandal. (Bloomberg -- Japan)
Parmalat Shares May Rise as Headlines Fade: Report Apr 20, 2009
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Parmalat SpA , best known to many U.S. investors for its 2003 bankruptcy and accounting scandal, may benefit as the market again focuses on its boring but steady dairy business, Barron's said Sunday. The Italian firm's shares, re-listed in 2005, remain well below their high two years ago at 1. (ABC News -- Wire)
One Heckuva Cheap Stock Apr 19, 2009
All is not cut and driedWhile each of these companies offers a compelling price and an enormous growth opportunity, on the heels of the Satyam accounting scandal, it's difficult for American investors to be comfortable with foreign companies that may not offer the same level of transparency as their U.S. counterparts. That explains why U.S. companies that grew more than 30% last year are trading at substantial premiums. (MSNBC -- Business)
News highlights Apr 15, 2009
Denver-based Qwest flirted with bankruptcy at the end of Nacchio's five-year tenure in 2002, stung by an accounting scandal and saddled with $25 billion in debt. Still, Nacchio reaped more than $200 million in stock sales, bonuses and salary. (OregonLive, OR -- Business)
How IBM is hurting TCS, Infy, Wipro Apr 12, 2009
IBM also may attract new customers from Indias Satyam Computer Services, embroiled in the nations largest accounting scandal. India is slowly transforming from a back office -- a place where companies send work to cut costs -- to a coveted domestic market with fast-growing companies, Patel said. (India Times, India)
FORUM: Economic history lesson redux Apr 8, 2009
Compounding this led to a 10 billion accounting scandal. Incidentally, as coincidence would have it, those two aforementioned Fannie and Freddie CEOs became Barack Obama's political and economic advisers. (North County Times)
Nortel files for bankruptcy protection Apr 5, 2009
But he was never able to right a company plagued by a series of accounting scandals one of his predecessors faces fraud charges and weakening demand for its products. While not bankrupt the company has an estimated $1-billion in its coffers Nortel is burning though cash at an impressive clip, and has $4. (Globe and Mail -- Business)
AIG problems not my fault: Greenberg Apr 2, 2009
Greenberg, who left as the company's chief executive in 2005 following an accounting scandal, is scheduled to appear before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Thursday. In a report posted on its website, the paper reported that Greenberg will argue for pressuring AIG's trading partners, which include large US and foreign banks that received large payments due to the insurer's bailout, to invest that money back into AIG.. (India Times)
Washington Looks to AIG's Greenberg For Help Apr 2, 2009
An accounting scandal forced him to step down from his beloved company. Related. (Time.com)
Cattles in new warning on 850m c... Apr 1, 2009
Cattles, the embattled sub-prime lender, warned shareholders today it would have to write down up to 850 million because of defaulting borrowers in the wake of an external investigation into its accounting scandal. Unveiling what constitutes a third profits warning, the Cattles board said it had received inaccurate or incomplete information from some of its former management in what was "a breakdown of internal controls". (New York Post -- Business)
Tipping point the fall after the rise Mar 28, 2009
The accounting scandal at the air cargo carrier is well-documented. The alarm bells went off when the company committed a no-no it missed its April 2007 deadline for the submission of its audited 2006 accounts. (The Star Online, Malaysia -- Business)
Manulife, the millions and moral hazard Mar 28, 2009
After the accounting scandals of 2001-02, he was one of the first big-name CEOs to call for changes to how companies account for stock options. He also warned of the moral hazards presented by the enormous, some would say grotesque, compensation entitlements. (Globe and Mail -- Business)
A.I.G. sues U.S. government for return of $306 million in tax payments Mar 24, 2009
In part, A.I.G. says it overpaid its U.S. government income taxes after a 2004 accounting scandal that caused it to restate its financial records. A.I.G. says in part that it is entitled to a refund of $33 million that SICO paid in 1997 as compensation to employees, which it now says should be characterized as a deductible expense. (International Herald Tribune -- Business)
Fannie Mae Takeover Confuses a Class Action Mar 24, 2009
Investors filed suit against the publicly traded behemoth in 2004, in the wake of an accounting scandal. Now, , many players in the litigation are still wondering how the change will affect their case. (Law.com)
Recessionary rage fixated on AIG Mar 21, 2009
Yesterday, even former AIG chief executive officer Hank Greenberg, who was forced out in 2005 over an accounting scandal, got into the act, decrying the payments and calling for the removal of current CEO Edward Liddy. When I was there, nobody had a contract with the company, including me, Mr. Greenberg said in a television interview. (Globe and Mail)
Revenge of the patriarch Mar 21, 2009
Choi Jae-ku / AFP - Getty Images FILEHank Greenberg resigned as CEO of AIG in 2005, his reputation wrecked by an accounting scandal in which AIG overstated the value of its assets ... Greenberg resigned as CEO of AIG in 2005, his reputation wrecked by an accounting scandal in which AIG overstated the value of its assets. (MSNBC -- Business)
Ex-AIG CEO: Don't Blame Me For Bonuses Mar 20, 2009
After nearly 40 years at the helm, he was ousted in 2005 in the midst of an accounting scandal. Rodriguez: If you were still CEO, would you have paid out the bonuses. (CBS News -- World)
AIG's past, present and future Mar 19, 2009
A 2002 law adopted after the accounting scandals at Enron and other companies allows publicly traded companies to take back ill-gotten compensation. Another way, which Liddy is trying, is persuasion. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- World)
How AIG Became Too Big to Fail Mar 19, 2009
By the time Greenberg was forced out in an accounting scandal 38 years later, AIG had become one of the world's biggest public companies, with sales of $113 billion in 2006 and 116,000 employees in 130 countries, from France to China. AIG says it has written more than 81 million life-insurance policies, with a face value of $1. (Time.com)
Bad year or good, AIG execs got big bonuses Mar 18, 2009
A 2002 law adopted after the accounting scandals at Enron and other companies allows publicly traded corporations to take back ill-gotten compensation. On Capitol Hill late Tuesday, House Democrats were considering proposing new legislation to authorize Attorney General Eric Holder to recover bonus payments like the ones paid by AIG.. (AZCentral -- Business)
Shell to focus on biofuels and raises dividend Mar 18, 2009
This means that 2008 was the first year the company has not pumped more oil than it has added to reserves since 2004, when an accounting scandal led it to lower its proven reserves by more than a quarter. . (International Herald Tribune -- Business)
Greenberg Rips AIG Exec, Government Mar 17, 2009
Greenberg ran AIG from 1968 until he was pressured out after an accounting scandal in 2005. If he was still in charge, we probably would have had some losses, Greenberg says. (Newsmax)
Recessions expose financial scandals Mar 13, 2009
At the end of the recession, there was a major charity accounting scandal. And, Congress tightened banking regulation after the saving and loan scandal. (Christian Science Monitor -- USA)
Nortel may sell top 2 divisions Mar 13, 2009
Nortel entered bankruptcy protection in January, the company hurt by the economic downturn and a serious of accounting scandals and product missteps earlier this decade. The company says it s working on a detailed turnaround plan to emerge from bankruptcy; it that it would cut 3,200 jobs around the world on top of 1,800 jobs it had yet to cut from previous restructurings. (Raleigh Triangle Business Journal, NC)
Lawmaker Goes After Ex-Fannie CEO Over Loan Deal Mar 5, 2009
Raines, a prominent Washington figure who was President Clinton's budget director, resigned from Fannie Mae in 2004 after an accounting scandal. Fannie Mae and sibling company Freddie Mac were seized by federal regulators last fall. (ABC News -- Wire)
Nortel posts lower sales, bigger loss Mar 3, 2009
In January, Nortel filed for creditor protection in Canada and the U.S. The company was hit hard by the economic downturn, as well as its own technological missteps and a serious of accounting scandals after the bursting of the technology bubble. The company, which is based in Toronto, still has about 2,000 workers in the Triangle and 30,000 overall. (Raleigh Triangle Business Journal, NC)
U.S. government increasing stake in Citigroup to 36% Mar 1, 2009
8 billion shares traded yesterday set a New York Stock Exchange record, topping a mark set by WorldCom Inc. in 2002 during its accounting scandal. The government now would have a large, long-term stake in a major bank for the first time since the U.S. took control of failed Continental Illinois bank in 1984, Elliott said. (Honolulu Advertiser)
EZchip Set To Expand Into Field's Low End • Fallout From Satyam Case Could Linger Feb 18, 2009
Officials, executives and investors don't have an answer yet, but the Indian government is taking a hard line on the Satyam accounting scandal ... Eight years ago, the Enron accounting scandal and several similar scandals sparked passage of the tough accounting regulation known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. (Investors Business Daily)
Nortel's bankruptcy leaves former workers without safety net Feb 11, 2009
The company was done in by a corporate accounting scandal, mounting debt and mismanagement, problems that were exacerbated by declining sales and the global recession. Nortel warned in its bankruptcy filing that without protection from creditors, it could run out of cash in the second quarter. (Fresno Bee -- Business)
Ireland's Elan trims losses as MS drug sales surge Feb 10, 2009
Elan stopped short of forecasting its first return to operating profit since 2002 the year that Elan came close to bankruptcy amid an accounting scandal and the failure of an experimental treatment for Alzheimer's disease. An exceptional $236. (International Herald Tribune -- Technology)
Charter mum on reports of bankruptcy preparations Feb 10, 2009
On Friday, the Bloomberg news service reported that Greg Doody an attorney who had helped lead natural gas-fueled power producer Calpine Inc. out of bankruptcy and who helped HealthSouth Corp. stave off bankruptcy after a 2003 accounting scandal had been hired by Charter. Citing people familiar with knowledge of the matter, Bloomberg noted that Charter hired law firm Kirkland & Ellis and investment bank Lazard Ltd. last month to advise on reorganization options. (Gaylord Herald Times, MI)
HealthSouth CEO Grinney's annual salary passes $1M Mar 31, 2008
Grinney took the HealthSouth helm in 2005 and has directed its corporate overhaul since a multibillion-dollar accounting scandal in 2003 threatened to bankrupt the nation's largest inpatient rehabilitation provider ... HealthSouth's debt has been trimmed dramatically and stock prices have rebounded from less than 10 cents to more than $18 since the accounting scandal surfaced. (Birmingham Business Journal)
Divisions take shape on financial oversight plan Mar 31, 2008
They make the comparison to the Sarbanes-Oxley law, passed in 2002 four months after it was introduced in response to the accounting scandals at and other large companies. That effort produced some unintended consequences that, the industry believes, have hurt the global competitiveness of American companies. (Boston Globe)
Fannie, Freddie must raise up to $20 billion Mar 29, 2008
Both companies had delays in filing financial results after multibillion-dollar accounting scandals in recent year that required them to restate earnings. After Lockharts interview Friday, he issued a statement in which he said: I expect the companies to determine the amount (of capital to be raised) within a broad range based upon mortgage market needs, the expected return to their shareholders and the advice they receive from investment bankers. (MSNBC -- Business)
HILLARY HATRED GOOSING GORE Mar 29, 2008
Cole inherited from Reynolds an empty war chest and an accounting scandal. Republican colleagues criticized Reynolds for abandoning the national campaign in 2006 when his own seat in western New York appeared in danger. (New York Post -- Opinions)
Avoiding the devil you know: Your employer's stock Mar 29, 2008
"I used to think Enron was the poster child of what not to do with company stock," said Mike Scarborough, president of the Scarborough Group, an investment advisory firm based in Annapolis, Maryland, referring to the Houston energy trading company whose stock collapsed in 2000 amid a massive accounting scandal. "But it may ultimately turn out to be Bear Stearns, because money and investing is their business - and it still turned out badly," Scarborough said. (International Herald Tribune -- Money Report)
Atlanta attorney nominated to serve on SEC Mar 29, 2008
In the past, Aguilar has drawn some criticism from labor leaders for raising doubts in published interviews about the cost-effectiveness of some portions of the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which increased corporate accountability in the wake of several accounting scandals. Walter, the other pending SEC nominee, currently is a regulatory policy executive at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the largest non-governmental regulator for broker-dealers. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Business)
Blowing the whistle can help FSA nail the cheats Mar 29, 2008
In 2001 she sent an anonymous memo to her boss, which said: I am incredibly nervous that we will implode in a wave of accounting scandals. She joined in 1993 and reached vice-president level, although she was never a part of the inner circle that ran the group. (Times Online)
AIG sues ex-CEO Greenberg for breach of duty Mar 28, 2008
Since Greenberg's 2005 ouster from AIG, amid an accounting scandal, he has retained control of Starr International, running the company as a private investment vehicle. Starr's 9. (MSNBC -- Crime)
AIG sues Greenberg and six ex-directors Mar 28, 2008
The legal action marks another chapter in a complicated three-year battle between the insurer and its former chief after he left the company amid an accounting scandal. In the complaint, filed on Wednesday, AIG alleges Greenberg, former Chief Financial Officer Howard Smith and five others breached their fiduciary duty through "misappropriation of a special block of AIG shares worth approximately $20 billion in 2005.". (ABC News -- Wire)
Citigroup settles Enron lawsuit Mar 27, 2008
Andrew Fastow, Enron's former financial chief, is currently serving a six-year sentence for his part in the accounting scandal which led to the fall of Enron. The creditors had alleged that the banks should bear at least partial responsibility for the energy firm's implosion. (Aljazeera.Net)
Nationalization and dislocation Mar 26, 2008
This includes an extra amount that the regulator, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), required them to hold while they got their books in order after accounting scandals. Now it is reducing that extra cushion by $5. (Asia Times Online)
'Just the beginning': S&P's list of struggling firms is growing Mar 24, 2008
Ever since the doughnut chain's accounting scandal in 2004 and 2005, it has been trying to turn itself around. Aftereffects of the accounting mess coupled with too many new stores have put the company in a tight spot. (USA Today -- Money)
U.S. pulls economy's strings Mar 22, 2008
They said that allowing the companies to take on more debt could threaten the global financial system, citing the pair's recent massive accounting scandals. Although an independent regulatory agency put the plan in place, it wasn't without some significant stage setting by top-level Bush officials. (OregonLive, OR -- Business)
Betting On Fannie And Freddie Mar 20, 2008
Fannie and Freddie have been involved in a string of accounting scandals this decade, rigging accounting to increase management bonuses and the like ... 5 trillion cap on their mortgage-investment holdings after filing timely financial statements following multibillion-dollar accounting scandals. (Forbes -- Markets)
Government boosts role in fixing mortgage mess Free-market beliefs fade... Mar 20, 2008
They said that allowing the companies to take on more debt could threaten the global financial system, citing the pair's recent accounting scandals ... And, as a reward for filing timely financial statements following multibillion-dollar accounting scandals, Fannie and Freddie were freed on March 1 of a combined $1. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Business)
Easing capital restraints on mortgage giants reveals activist role of gov't, credit rot extent Mar 20, 2008
They said that allowing the companies to take on more debt could threaten the global financial system, citing the pair's recent massive accounting scandals ... Lockhart, the regulator of Fannie and Freddie, insisted Wednesday that the companies having tightened their financial controls and acting prudently in recent years, reforming after their accounting scandals, makes bailout talk nonsense ... And, as a reward for filing timely financial statements following multibillion-dollar accounting... (San Diego Union-Tribune -- Business)
U.S. mortgage lenders to pump $200 billion into markets Mar 20, 2008
The Treasury Department did welcome letting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac increase their mortgage holdings and the formula that relaxes the companies' reserves that they were forced to raise after accounting scandals came to light in mid-2003 and 2004. Reducing their reserve requirement is expected to free up about $200 billion. (San Diego Union-Tribune -- Business)
Hofmeister sees progress on 2 big goals Mar 18, 2008
One of his primary missions was to shore up the company's tarnished image in the United States after a reserves accounting scandal in 2004 forced repeated restatements ... Q: When you took the helm of Shell's U.S. operations in 2005, Royal Dutch Shell was still grappling from the reserves accounting scandal, repeated restatements, and loss of credibility. (Houston Chronicle)
Cole: NRCC Debt Neared $19 Million Mar 17, 2008
As the National Republican Congressional Committee last week released the first details of the accounting scandal involving former Treasurer Christopher Ward, the committee s top official also asserted for the first time that the debt left over from the 2006 elections was actually in the range of $19 million. . (Roll Call)
Dyadic board member resigns as court hearing looms Mar 16, 2008
Dyadic's board fired Emalfarb in August after the company had an accounting scandal at its Chinese subsidiary. The ex-CEO is disputing his ouster and the company's claim that he contributed to the problem. (South Florida Business Journal, FL)
Major European retailers post higher profits for 2007 Mar 7, 2008
It said it would pay a dividend of 16 cents a share, its first payout since an accounting scandal in 2003. . (International Herald Tribune -- Business)
Mayor in on auditor selection Mar 4, 2008
Councilwoman Donna Frye had fought for months to exclude the mayor from the appointment process, saying it was a bad practice to continue in light of an earlier accounting scandal and securities violations that scarred San Diego. Councilmen Tony Young and Brian Maienschein joined Frye in opposition. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Charter Schools: The Marine Corps of Public Education Mar 4, 2008
Some have experienced accounting scandals that occasionally embarrass traditional schools ... Some have experienced accounting scandals that occasionally embarrass traditional schools. (Townhall.com)
As U.S. jobs get harder to find, upward mobility falters Mar 3, 2008
"We're still feeling fallout from the collapse of the tech economy and the accounting scandals. There are still psychological scars for the managers affected.". Oakland, long known as the blue-collar sibling to the aristocratic San Francisco across the bay, is among the metropolitan areas that never fully recovered from the last recession, with fewer jobs today than in March 2001, according to Economy. (International Herald Tribune -- Business)
Renowned surgeon Andrews celebrates progress on new orthopedic clinic Mar 3, 2008
Alabama Sports Medicine & Orthopedic Center was originally destined for HealthSouth's Digital Hospital, but HealthSouth's accounting scandal sent Andrews scrambling for a new home, he said. "We've been in turmoil with our practice," Andrews said. (Birmingham Business Journal, AL)
Risks seen for growing Fannie, Freddie Mar 1, 2008
Then -- as a reward for filing timely financial statements following multibillion-dollar accounting scandals -- the companies were freed of a combined $1. 5 trillion cap on their mortgage-investment holdings. (BusinessWeek)
Nortel slashes jobs as loss swells Feb 29, 2008
Once a high-tech darling, Nortel has spent the past several years trying to rebound from an industry-wide downturn and a massive accounting scandal that resulted in multiple earnings restatements and a major shareholder class-action lawsuit, which has been settled. The situation has left little room for Nortel to respond to a changing industry. (Toronto Star)
Freddie's chief financial officer says the company has enough capital to make it through 2008 Feb 29, 2008
A federal regulator announced Wednesday that Freddie and its larger government-sponsored sibling, Fannie Mae, will be allowed to expand their roles in the turbulent mortgage market, through the removal on March 1 of an investment-portfolio cap placed in the aftermath of multilbillion-dollar accounting scandals at the companies. Analysts said the impact will be limited, however, because of the large cash cushion the companies must maintain as a reserve against risk. (San Diego Union-Tribune -- Business)
Nortel's Slide Continues Feb 29, 2008
During the call, Zafirovski said Nortel's accounting scandals are behind it and that it has settled with the SEC.. Zafirovski himself ago to help put the company back on track after having been derailed by the accounting mess. (SmallBusinessComputing)
Sales and prices of new homes continue descent Feb 28, 2008
Under a previous agreement with regulators, the timely filings of Fannie's and Freddie's financial results trigger the removal of an investment-portfolio cap placed after multibillion-dollar accounting scandals at the government-sponsored companies. Analysts said the impact will be limited, though, because of the big cash cushion that Fannie, the largest buyer and backer of U.S. home loans, and No. 2 mortgage financer Freddie must keep as a reserve against risk. (USA Today -- Money)
Fannie Mae posts 4Q loss of nearly $3.6 billion as loan delinquencies mounted Feb 28, 2008
The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight said that because Fannie's 2007 financial statement brings it up to date in reporting earnings following lapses in the wake of a multibillion-dollar accounting scandal it will remove on March 1 the cap on the company's holdings of mortgage securities. That cap is currently set at around $700 billion. (San Diego Union-Tribune -- Business)
Insurance bosses fraud deal Feb 26, 2008
Five former insurance executives have been convicted of fraud for their part in an accounting scandal at American International Group (AIG). Ronald Ferguson, former boss of reinsurance firm General Re, was among those found guilty by a US jury and could face fines and years in jail. (BBC News -- Business)
