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Published on FierceSarbox (http://www.fiercesarbox.com)

SEC aims at stock sale and bonuses under 304

By admin
Created Jun 4 2007 - 8:01pm

For the first time, the SEC has made use of Section 304 of Sarbanes Oxley, which gives the agency the right to seek repayment of bonuses and stock sale profits when financial results are later restated. The SEC will apparently be seeking this disgorgement from two of the four former Mercury Interactive officers who have been charged with fraudulent stock options dating. The SEC also alleges the officers did not record hundreds of millions of dollars of compensation and falsified documents. Indeed, two of the defendants were charged with wrongfully signing off on certifications that stem from Section 302 [1]. This is serious stuff. It's unclear how much the agency wants paid back. It will likely be a large sum. One question is why 304 has not yet been invoked? There have certainly been a spate of backdating cases [2].

For more:
- here's an article [3]


Source URL:
http://www.fiercesarbox.com/story/sec-aims-at-stock-sale-and-bonuses-under-304/2007-06-05