SEC wraps Altera stock options probe

By Colleen Taylor -- Electronic News, 2/20/2007

Altera Corp. today announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has formally notified Altera that its investigation related to Altera's historical stock option practices has been terminated, and that no enforcement action has been recommended.

However, the programmable logic provider has by no means emerged unscathed from the industry's ongoing crackdown on stock options backdating. Altera's stock options related issues date back to May, when it was one of the first companies to launch an internal investigation into its options granting practices. Soon after, the SEC launched its own probe into Altera's options history.

Altera did indeed find evidence of backdating, which it initially estimated in September would necessitate it to pay charges of between $28 million and $38 million. In October, however, Altera announced that its backdating impact totaled $47.6 million.

Individuals have also been brought down by Altera's investigation. The company disclosed in October that a former CEO and a former general counsel, likely Rodney Smith and Wendell Bergere, were responsible for much of the fraudulent backdating.  Altera also announced the exit of its senior VP and CFO Nathan M. Sarkisian. The official spin from Altera is that Sarkisian retired, but the company also said its stock options review had noted a material weakness in financial controls and suggested "remedial actions," including searching for a new CFO.