Nvidia wriggles off SEC's barbless hook

A SIGH OF RELIEF all round in Satan Clara, we suspect. No, not because the 8800 GT launch went off without a hitch - although the favourable press will no doubt have been pleasing to spinners - but rather because Jen-Hsun and his boys are off the hook when it comes to stock options.

Nvidia filed a form yesterday disclosing that the Securities and Exchanges Commission had closed its investigation into its stock backdating practices, the fall-out from which has affected firms throughout Silicon Valley.

The the wise and well-oiled heads at SEC decreed that Nvidia would not face any sanction over its mis-stating of earnings and so everyone is free to go home and play with the gazillions they managed to grab from the market.

Last year's earnings restatement - which followed an "internal investigation " into seven whole years of finances - stands. A knuckle or two may have been lightly rapped. µ