SEC Options Probe Widens to More Than 100 Companies

The Securities and Exchange Commission's investigation into backdating stock options has extended to more than 100 companies and it will be pressing additional charges in the near future, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox told the Senate Banking Commission yesterday, The Wall Street Journal reports.

As a result, the SEC's chief accountant will issue guidance on how to account for stock options.

In a separate hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty called the practice of backdating stock options "a brazen abuse of corporate power to artificially inflate the salaries of corporate wrongdoers at the expense of shareholders."

Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Mark Everson asked Congress to loosen privacy laws to make it easier for the IRS to share information about potential wrongdoing with the SEC and Justice Department.

The staff of Money Management Executive ("MME") has prepared these capsule summaries based on reports published by the news sources to which they are attributed. Those news sources are not associated with MME, and have not prepared, sponsored, endorsed, or approved these summaries.