11 big companies can't certify financial reports
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Eleven big companies have told the Securities and Exchange Commission their executives are unable to attest to the accuracy of their recent financial reports under a new government order.
The companies and their filing status: www.sec.gov /rules/extra/ceocfo.htm
Not surprisingly, these include companies embroiled in the accounting scandals of recent months: Enron Corp. and WorldCom Inc., which have become two of the biggest corporate bankruptcies in U.S. history, as well as bankrupt Adelphia Communications Corp. Adelphia's founder, John Rigas, and two of his sons were charged last month with conspiracy for allegedly looting the cable TV provider and using it as their "personal piggy bank."
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The requirement for CEOs and chief financial officers to certify company finances has so far uncovered no new accounting irregularities like those that brought down Enron and WorldCom and rattled investors.
More than 700 of the nation's biggest companies had filed sworn statements from their top executives, vouching for the accuracy of recent financial reports, by yesterday — two days after the government deadline.
As of yesterday afternoon, 761 companies were shown on the SEC's Web site as having submitted their statements.
The government order was designed to help restore confidence in corporate America after accounting failures at several big companies and the downfall of accounting firm Arthur Andersen.
Also not certifying their financial reports: bankrupt steelmaker LTV Corp. and Dynegy Inc., which had proposed to buy Enron in a rescue merger for $8.4 billion last year before it slid into bankruptcy. The federal government is investigating trades by Dynegy and Enron as part of a probe into allegations that energy traders manipulated power markets in California in 2000 and 2001.
The other companies are ACT Manufacturing Inc., Adams Resources & Energy Inc., Alaska Air Group Inc., Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc., McLeodUSA Inc. and TruServ Corp.
