Posted on 08/14/2002 9:18:12 PM PDT by Libloather
SEC Flooded With CEO, CFO Certifications, But No Firm Tally
Wed Aug 14, 7:54 PM ET
By Janet Whitman
Dow Jones Newswires
NEW YORK -- Just as many Americans wait until the last minute to file their tax returns, many top executives held off swearing to the veracity of their accounting until Wednesday's deadline for sending their financial certifications to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The sworn statements from chief executives and financial chiefs, which have trickled in since the SEC announced the requirement on June 27, reached a torrent over the past two days as Wednesday's 5 p.m. EDT deadline loomed.
The order, designed to restore investor confidence in corporate America, applies to 947 companies whose executives must file sworn statements attesting to the accuracy of their most recent annual and quarterly financial reports.
Wednesday's deadline applies to roughly 745 companies. Top executives for the remaining companies -- those that don't have calendar fiscal years -- will have until as late as Nov. 29 to file their sworn affidavits with the SEC.
The SEC, which is keeping a tally of the certifications on its Web site, had posted by late Wednesday the names of about 450 companies whose executives had certified their results. "It's a little bit more than half," said an SEC spokesman. "What you see is what I've got."
However, as of 6.30 p.m. EDT, the SEC Web site didn't include any certifications dated Wednesday. That list doesn't contain, then, the many dozens of companies that announced their compliance via press releases and through the Edgar online filings system on Wednesday.
Although it appears the overwhelming majority of executives met the deadline, not all corporate chieftains were willing to stand by their financials.
As expected, companies such as WorldCom Inc. (WCOEQ) and Qwest Communications International Inc. (NYSE: Q - News) , both of which are under investigation by the SEC for their questionable accounting, won't certify their results.
Meanwhile, executives at other companies like Interpublic Group of Cos. (IPG) and Household International Inc. (NYSE: HI - News) certified their financials, but not without restatements reaching back several years.
AOL Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: AOL - News) , which has been under investigation for its accounting, said its top executives certified the company's financial results, but added that, based on information uncovered in the last 10 days, revenue totaling $49 million at its AOL unit may have been improperly booked.
Enron's CFO and interim CEO certified their companies results, but with a caveat: The fallen energy giant's pre-bankruptcy financials weren't included in the certification.
Energy trader Dynegy Inc. (NYSE: DYN - News) , whose accounting also has been under scrutiny, said its CEO and CFO were unable to certify its financial results because of a pending earnings restatement.
Although the deadline for sworn statements is Wednesday, investors probably won't get a clear picture of the overall number of companies that have complied, or those that failed to comply, until later this week or next week as the SEC updates its Web site.
Adding to the delay, companies have until Thursday to apply for a five-day extension with the SEC.
"I would hope that much of the confidence that has been robbed of us will be restored as people find that the vast majority of companies are making clean certifications," said Robert Willens, accounting specialist at Lehman Brothers. (NYSE: LEH - News)
He added, however, that some investors may be placing too much stock in the sworn statements, given that CEOs and CFOs had only about 45 days to pore over their financials to make sure they were correct, not nearly enough time for an adequate complete review.
-By Janet Whitman; Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5248; janet.whitman@ dowjones.com
Jordan, Vernon Eulion, Jr.
Contributed By: Kate Tuttle
One of the most powerful, well-connected lawyers in the United States, Vernon Jordan has had a long, sometimes contradictory career. Few civil rights spokespeople of his generation have attained the kind of corporate and political influence Jordan has, an achievement enhanced by his position as a top adviser to and close friend of President Bill Clinton. Yet some critics have charged that the former National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) field secretary and Urban League president has lost touch with his original goals: to improve the economic lives of African Americans. Jordan was born in Atlanta, Georgia. The middle son of a postal clerk and his wife, a caterer, he was deeply influenced by his mother's drive and business sense.
As a child he sometimes accompanied her to catering jobs, where he observed Atlanta's white establishment, especially the Lawyer's Club. In an interview with the New York Times, Jordan talked about admiring the way the men dressed, spoke, and carried themselves. "I didn't necessarily like their views," he said, "but I think I learned from them."
After graduating with honors from David T. Howard High School in 1953, Jordan went to DePauw University in Indiana. Though the only black student in his class, Jordan excelled at DePauw, where he served in the student senate, won statewide honors in speaking contests, and played basketball. After college he went to law school at Howard University; he graduated in 1960.
Jordan's early days as a lawyer in Atlanta were devoted to the cause of civil rights. While working as a law clerk for a local black attorney, Jordan helped organize the integration of the University of Georgia, personally escorting student Charlayne Hunter (now journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault) past a hostile white crowd. In the following decade, Jordan served as Georgia field secretary for the NAACP, director of the Voter Education Project for the Southern Regional Council, head of the United Negro College Fund, and a delegate to President Lyndon B. Johnson's White House Conference on Civil Rights.
Always more identified with mainstream rather than militant or radical groups within the Civil Rights Movement, in 1971 Jordan was named head of the National Urban League, one of the more conservative, established African American organizations. Under his leadership, the Urban League flourished. Jordan's experience in fund-raising and his experience with the business community helped him attract corporate sponsors, which allowed the organization to more than triple its budget and hire many more employees. At the same time, Jordan joined the boards of many of the country's biggest corporations—including Xerox, American Express, and Dow Jones—where he was able to influence hiring policies and push for more jobs for blacks and women.
In 1981, following his recuperation from a May 29, 1980, shooting by a white supremacist, Jordan resigned from the Urban League to take a job with the Washington, D.C., office of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer and Feld, an influential law and lobbying firm based in Dallas, Texas. This job, in addition to his membership in the corporate elite and his longstanding friendship with President Bill Clinton, made Vernon Jordan one of Washington's most important power brokers. He has played a role in influencing the president's positions on foreign trade, budgetary issues, and affirmative action, as well as key decisions on personnel. In 1998 Jordan's friendship with the president brought him once again into the news, this time in connection with allegations that Clinton, while carrying on a sexual relationship with a White House intern, Monica S. Lewinsky, had obstructed justice by asking Jordan to find Lewinsky a job in exchange for her silence about the affair. A corps of Republican congressmen used Jordan's taped deposition in their 1999 impeachment trial against the president, which ended in his acquittal. Known for his charm, elegant clothing, and impeccable manners, Jordan is described by many, including the president, as "larger than life."
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Boilerplate Whitewater ~right down tothe straw-man father-in -law
By September it was revealed that Terry had underwritten the Clinton Mortgage in NY ~ the case seems to have died
ELECTRICAL WORKERS (IBEW)
DOL Sues Union Fund Tied to Clinton-Crony McAuliffe
The U.S. Dep't of Labor filed suit May 5 against two trustees of the $8.3 billion Nat. Electrical Benefit Fund charging improper dealings between the fund and top Clinton-fundraiser Terence R. McAuliffe. According to DOL, NEBF trustee John Grau and ex-trustee Jack F. Moore imprudently lent over $6 million in pension assets. NEBF is operated jointly by the Int'l Bhd. of Electrical Workers, from which Moore retired as secretary in 1997, and the Nat. Electrical Contractors Ass'n, of which Grau is a vice president.
The scam involved a $6 million loan in 1992 to Columbia Land & Development Corp. of Orlando to buy a subdivision called Country Run which was to be developed into 545 lots. McAuliffe and his wife, Dorothy S. McAuliffe, own Columbia. The loan was in default from Dec. 1992 to Oct. 1997. DOL says NEBF should have known the loan couldn't be repaid in full with interest. The suit seeks the trustees to reimburse the fund for losses, including interest.
The McAuliffes also own Am. Capitol Management, a partner with NEBF in a separate investment called Am. Capitol Group I Assets LP, which guaranteed payment of the Columbia loan. In a separate 1991 investment, NEBF paid $38.7 million to buy five apartment complexes and a shopping center near St. Petersburg. The partnership bought the properties from the Resolution Trust Corp., which had taken control of them from a bank in receivership that had been owned by McAuliffe's father-in-law.
DOL alleges NEBF imprudently purchased a $2.45 million interests in ACGIA, a move that reduced the value of the ACM guarantee on the Columbia loan. McAuliffe's holdings in ACM had been collateral for the loan. The suit further alleges trustees made one of the purchases in the ACM partnership even though the Columbia loan was in default. The pension fund then reportedly sold its share of the partnership and the Columbia loan to ACM at a loss. [Pensions & Investments 5/17/99]
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