IBM walks free from SEC investigation

IBM WAS GIVEN a stiff talking-to by the Securities and Exchange Commission for misleading analysts about employee stock-option expenses in 2005.

While the SEC said IBM's conduct "violated the reporting provisions of the federal securities laws" it stopped short of finding that a fraud had been committed, and it imposed no fine.

Analysts suggested that IBM had told porkies to Wall Street about the options figure so as to cushion the disappointing results .

Scott Friestad, the SEC's associate director of enforcement said that the facts were particularly troubling because the disclosure decision was driven, in part, by management's perception of how such bad news would be interpreted by analysts.

Biggish Blue promised not to do it again and may write out 100 times that it will "cease and desist" from any future violations of the securities-reporting law. However at the same time it denies it did anything wrong.

Laws, of course are there to be broken.

More here. µ