Dans Legal Week (US) de cette semaine, l'article suivant sur la transaction passée par les dirigeants de plusieurs sociétés Hi-tech US dans l'affaire des Stock-Options antidatées de 2004 à 2006 est à lire. Un accord a été trouvé pour arrêter l'action de la justice. On rappelle que cette procédure est très courante aux Etats-Unis et qu'elle ne vaut absolument pas reconnaissance d'une faute. Cependant, les sommes versées par les dirigeants visés représentent une fraction non négligeable de la plus-value réalisée, frauduleusement ou non. A suivre pour les autres Sociétés concernées. Contact : Jacques-Olivier Meyer, DG Intelfi, +33.1.47.56.11.81.
Tiré de LEGAL WEEK (US) : semaine du 8 septembre 2008
Apple and several of its officers and directors, including chief executive Steve Jobs, have agreed to settle a stock options backdating case for $14m (£8m), plus legal fees and costs, reports The National Law Journal.
According to court filings this month, Apple also agreed to pay $7.3m (£4.1m) in legal fees and $300,000 (£171,000) to plaintiffs in the federal actions, as well as $1.2m (£683,000) in legal fees and $50,000 (£28,500) in expenses to plaintiffs.
The company also agreed to certain corporate governance changes.
On Monday, a federal judge preliminarily approved the settlement and set a final settlement hearing 31 October.
In addition to Apple and Jobs, the defendants are: former chief financial officer Fred Anderson and chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer; chief operating officer Timothy Cook; former general counsel Nancy Heinen; senior vice president Ronald Johnson and former senior vice presidents Mitchell Mandich, Jonathan Rubinstein and Avadis Tevanian Jr; and board members William Campbell, Millard Drexler, Arthur Levinson and Jerome York.
Last month, Heinen agreed to pay $2.2m (£1.25m) to settle options backdating charges brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Anderson had agreed last year to pay $3.5m (£2m) to settle SEC claims against him.
In court papers, the plaintiffs said the settlement "provides an excellent monetary recovery." While maintaining the merit of their case, plaintiffs acknowledged the expense and length of continuing the litigation. So did Apple and the individual defendants, who denied liability.
In court papers, Apple said "most of the grants cited in the federal complaint could not give rise to recoverable damages because they were not misdated or the grants were cancelled before they were exercise, thereby providing no benefit for the grant recipient and imposing no loss on the company. Proceeding with the litigation, however, will impose extensive and unrecoverable costs in the form of attorneys' fees and expenses."
Apple also said the plaintiffs had a high unlikelihood of succeeding, given, among other things, claims that were time-barred.
The settlement ends 14 derivative federal actions and five state derivative suits brought against Apple.
An internal investigation at Apple found stock option grants had been backdated from 1997 to 2002 but no member of management, including Jobs, was accused of any wrongdoing.
The revelation forced the company to record $84m (£47.8m) in expenses.
