Some Takeaways from Apple's Backdating Case
Here are some noteworthy points from today's installment of the Apple saga:
- Apple benefited from its decision to share everything it had on the case with government investigators, and share it early:
Similarly, the SEC is taking a tough stance on former Apple General Counsel Nancy Heinen who, the commission said, invoked her Fifth Amendment rights during questioning. Now the commission is suing Heinen;
- According to the SEC's complaint, Heinen widened the circle of people who knew about the issue to include employees who reported directly to her:
(Emphasis added.)
Once Apple's directors and SEC investigators started asking questions, there would have been a number of people still at the company to answer them;
- Linda Chatman Thomsen, who runs the SEC's Division of Enforcement, continues to take action against alleged misconduct at publicly held companies while demonstrating caution over punishing shareholders. In the SEC's press release, she said:
Action against Apple or its CEO Steve Jobs (who ex-CFO Fred Anderson's lawyer places at the center of the scandal) could have hammered Apple's stock price.
As the market headed to its close for the day, Apple's shares were about unchanged for the day on Nasdaq.