Companies
Ex-Apple officers charged over backdating
Fred Anderson, former chief financial officer at
Apple, has agreed to pay approximately $3.5m
to settle charges related to stock options backdating at the US computer
company.
The US Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC) alleges that Nancy Heinen, Apple’s former general
counsel, participated in the fraudulent backdating of option grants that caused
the company to under-report its expenses by nearly $40m. This includes an
allegedly backdated grant of 7.5m options to Steve Jobs, Apple chief executive.
She is also accused of altering company records to conceal the fraud.
Anderson’s settlement comes in respect of SEC charges that
he should have identified Heinen’s efforts to backdate the grants, but failed to
take steps to ensure the company’s financial statements were correct.
Marc Fagel, SEC associate regional director for San
Francisco, said: “Apple’s shareholders relied on Heinen and Anderson … to ensure
the accurate reporting of the company’s executive compensation. Instead, they
failed in their duties as gatekeepers and caused Apple to conceal millions of
dollars in stock option expenses”.
Following this – and seemingly in response to allegations
by Anderson that he “warned” Jobs that backdating could have serious accounting
implications – Apple’s board released a statement in support of its chief
executive. The board stated that it had “complete confidence … in Steve’s
integrity and his ability to lead Apple”.
Links
Apple
US Securities and Exchange Commission
May 2007
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