Stock options

Washington, D.C., May 18, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged employment search provider Monster Worldwide, Inc. for its multi-year scheme to secretly backdate stock options granted to thousands of Monster officers, directors and employees.

Monster agreed to pay a $2.5 million penalty to settle the SEC's charges that the company defrauded investors by granting backdated, undisclosed "in-the-money" stock options while failing to record required non-cash charges for option-related compensation expenses.    » read more »

Washington, D.C., March 12, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based software manufacturer Quest Software, Inc. and three current or former officers for stock option backdating.    » read more »

Washington, D.C., March 11, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Northern California residents Anthony Vassallo and Kenneth Kenitzer for orchestrating a multi-million dollar investment fraud. Vassallo agreed to a court order freezing his assets. The SEC is seeking an emergency court order to also freeze the assets of Vassallo's company, Equity Investment Management and Trading, Inc. (EIMT).    » read more »

Washington, D.C., March 4, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today brought enforcement actions against 14 specialist firms for unlawful proprietary trading on several regional and options exchanges. The firms agreed to settle the SEC's charges by collectively paying nearly $70 million in disgorgement and penalties.

The SEC charged the specialist firms for violating their fundamental obligation to serve public customer orders over their own proprietary interests by "trading ahead" of customer orders, or "interpositioning" the firms' proprietary accounts between customer orders.    » read more »

Washington, D.C., May 30, 2008 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Massachusetts high-tech company Analog Devices, Inc. and its CEO Jerald Fishman for reporting false compensation and related financial information to investors by backdating stock option grants to officers, directors and employees.

Without admitting or denying the SEC's findings, Analog and Fishman agreed to settle charges against them by consenting to the entry of an administrative cease-and-desist order.    » read more »

Washington, D.C., May 14, 2008 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged two current and two former top officers of Irvine, Calif.-based Broadcom Corporation for their alleged participation in a five-year systematic scheme to secretly backdate stock options granted to virtually all Broadcom officers and employees.

Broadcom: Photo by Nate McBean (CC)    » read more »

Washington, D.C., April 22, 2008 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Broadcom Corporation for falsifying its reported income by backdating stock option grants over a five-year period.

As a result of the fraud, Broadcom restated its financial results in January 2007 and reported more than $2 billion in additional compensation expenses.

Broadcom single chip AGPS solution

The Irvine, Calif.-based semiconductor maker has agreed to settle the charges and consented to pay a $12 million penalty.    » read more »

New Data Shows Continued Outsized Tax Deductions Compared To Booked Expenses

April 21, 2008 -- WASHINGTON – Today, Senator Carl Levin, D-Mich., Chairman of the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, released new data compiled by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) showing that corporations who issued stock options to their executives claimed 2005 stock option tax deductions that were collectively $61 billion larger than the expenses shown on the company books for options granted during the tax year covered by the returns.

100 Wall Street: Photo by Scott Miller (CC)    » read more »

October 5, 2007 -- Stock options are a key part of the compensation paid to U.S. corporate executives, making up nearly half of what the 500 largest U.S. companies paid their CEOs in 2006, according to Forbes magazine. Part of the reason is a costly glitch in our tax code that allows companies to recoup a sizable portion of their stock option pay at the expense of Uncle Sam.    » read more »