Because we know that when we put together the words “back” and “dating,” you get chills. That’s why we keep covering the Apple options backdating rigmarole. It’s for the children.
The latest development? The Boston Retirement Board, an Apple shareholder, has gone to court to get permission to see the minutes from board and committee meetings for the last ten years as well as other records related to the backdating (gooooo Boston?). California Superior Court Judge Jack Komar (that charming fellow at right) is presiding over the case, and is expected to officially make the order on Friday. Once so ordered, Apple will have a week to hand over any documents, except for any that it can prove are covered by attorney-client privilege. The judge also denied the handover of documents related to Apple’s internal investigation of the backdating.
Don’t expect this to be the smoking gun, though: any documents that are handed over are subject to a protective order that forbids them from being disclosed to a third-party, which also includes other shareholders. Bummer.
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Under the corporate law of every state, shareholders have informational rights to inspect corporate "books and records" like the ones sought here. So long as the Boston Retirement Board has a "proper purpose", as it can come up with here given the options situation, it should succeed.