News, info, and opinion by Mac users, for Mac users.

February 4, 2007

money

Nasdaq and Apple at odds again

Posted Feb. 4, ’07, 8:19 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Money

NasdaqWayyyyy back in August, when news of Apple’s options backdating woes were still as fresh as new-fallen snow, we mentioned that the financial “irregularities” could prompt Nasdaq to remove Apple from among their ranks: a vile and torturous process termed “delisting.” But the threat appeared to pass…for a while.

However, yesterday news arose once again that Nasdaq and Apple were not, perhaps, seeing eye-to-eye. In a regulatory filing, Apple acknowledged that they had been talking with federal investigators about the issues, and that as a result “subject the company to a potential delisting from the Nasdaq Global Select Market.” It’s important to note that though the Global Select Market is comprised of about a third of the companies listed on Nasdaq, it does not equate with Apple being removed from Nasdaq itself. The Global Select Market “confers an extra degree of respectability on a company’s accounting and corporate governance proceedures and, accordingly, gives investors an increased level of confidence.” Yeah, we can kind of see why they might not make dean’s list this semester.

Furthermore, in the same filing, Apple took a potshot at the investigation, saying that “The resolution of these matters will be time consuming, expensive and will distract management from the conduct of the company’s business.” Yes, Apple: you surely have more important things to do, we know. But play nice with the government and you’ll get back to it faster, ‘kay?


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