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GAO-03-138 Financial Statement Restatements

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GAO-03-138 Financial Statement Restatements United States General Accounting Office Report to the Chairman, Committee on GAO Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, U.S. Senate October 2002 FINANCIAL STATEMENT RESTATEMENTS Trends, Market Impacts, Regulatory Responses, and Remaining Challenges a GAO-03-138 Contents Letter 1 Results in Brief 4 Background 9 The Number of Restatements Has Grown Significantly and Trends Emerge 14 Restating Publicly Traded Companies Lost Billions of Dollars in Market Capitalization in the Days and Months Surrounding a Restatement Announcement 24 Restatements and Accounting Issues Appear to Have Negatively Impacted Investor Confidence 32 SEC Has Been Investigating an Increasing Number of Cases Involving Accounting-Related Issues 42 The Growing Number of Accounting Problems in the Corporate Financial Reporting System Have Spurred Reforms 55 Observations 72 Agency Comments and Our Evaluation 73 Appendixes Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology 75 Identifying the Number of and Reasons for Financial Statement Restatements 75 Determining the Impact of Financial Statement Restatements on Market Values of Restating Companies 77 Determining the Impact of Financial Statement Restatements on Investor Confidence 84 Analysis of SEC’s Accounting-Related Enforcement Activities 84 Collecting Information on Current and Proposed Accounting and Financial Reporting Oversight Structures 85 Appendix II: Comments from the Securities and Exchange Commission 86 Appendix III: Listing of Financial Statement Restatement Announcements, 1997-June 2002 88 Appendix IV: Case Study Overview 113 Business Overview 114 Restatement Data 114 Accounting/Auditing Firm 114 Stock Prices 114 Securities Analysts’ Recommendations 115 Credit Rating Agency Actions Taken 115 Legal and Regulatory Actions Taken 116 Page i GAO-03-138 Financial Restatements Contents Appendix V: Adelphia Communications Corporation 117 Business Overview 117 Restatement Data 117 Accounting/Audit Firm 118 Stock Price 119 Securities Analysts’ Recommendations 120 Credit Rating Agency Actions 121 Legal and Regulatory Actions Taken 121 Appendix VI: Aurora Foods Inc. 125 Business Overview 125 Restatement Data 125 Accounting/Audit Firm 126 Stock Price 126 Securities Analysts’ Recommendations 127 Credit Rating Agency Actions 128 Legal and Regulatory Actions Taken 128 Appendix VII: Critical Path, Inc. 134 Business Overview 134 Restatement Data 134 Accounting/Audit Firm 137 Stock Price 137 Securities Analysts’ Recommendations 139 Credit Rating Agency Actions 139 Legal and Regulatory Actions Taken 139 Appendix VIII: Enron Corporation 144 Business Overview 144 Restatement Data 144 Accounting/Audit Firm 147 Stock Price 148 Securities Analysts’ Recommendations 149 Credit Rating Agency Actions 150 Legal and Regulatory Actions Taken 150 Appendix IX: Hayes Lemmerz International, Inc. 152 Business Overview 152 Restatement Data 152 Accounting/Audit Firm 153 Stock Price 153 Securities Analysts’ Recommendations 154 Credit Rating Agency Actions 155 Legal and Regulatory Actions Taken 155 Page ii GAO-03-138 Financial Restatements Contents Appendix X: JDS Uniphase Corporation 157 Business Overview 157 Restatement Data 157 Accounting/Audit Firm 159 Stock Price 159 Securities Analysts’ Recommendations 160 Credit Rating Agency Actions 161 Legal and Regulatory Actions Taken 161 Appendix XI: MicroStrategy Incorporated 163 Business Overview 163 Restatement Data 163 Accounting/Audit Firm 165 Stock Price 166 Securities Analysts’ Recommendations 167 Credit Rating Agency Actions 168 Legal and Regulatory Actions Taken 168 Appendix XII: Orbital Sciences Corporation 171 Business Overview 171 Restatement Data 171 Accounting/Audit Firm 172 Stock Price 173 Securities Analysts’ Recommendations 174 Credit Rating Agency Actions 175 Legal and Regulatory Actions Taken 175 Appendix XIII: Rite Aid Corporation 176 Business Overview 176 Restatement Data 176 Accounting/Audit Firm 179 Stock Price 180 Securities Analysts’ Recommendations 182 Credit Rating Agency Actions 183 Legal and Regulatory Actions Taken 183 Appendix XIV: Safety-Kleen Corporation 187 Business Overview 187 Restatement Data 187 Accounting/Audit Firm 188 Stock Price 188 Securities Analysts’ Recommendations 190 Credit Rating Agency Actions 190 Legal and Regulatory Actions Taken 190 Page iii GAO-03-138 Financial Restatements Contents Appendix XV: SeaView Video Technology, Inc. 192 Business Overview 192 Restatement Data 192 Accounting/Audit Firm 193 Stock Price 194 Securities Analysts’ Recommendations 195 Credit Rating Agency Actions 196 Legal and Regulatory Actions Taken 196 Appendix XVI: Shurgard Storage Centers, Inc. 197 Business Overview 197 Restatement Data 197 Accounting/Audit Firm 198 Stock Price 198 Securities Analysts’ Recommendations 199 Credit Rating Agency Actions 200 Legal and Regulatory Actions Taken 200 Appendix XVII: Sunbeam Corporation 201 Business Overview 201 Restatement Data 201 Accounting/Audit Firm 202 Stock Price 202 Securities Analysts’ Recommendations 203 Credit Rating Agency Actions 204 Legal and Regulatory Actions Taken 204 Appendix XVIII: Thomas & Betts Corporation 207 Business Overview 207 Restatement Data 207 Accounting/Audit Firm 208 Stock Price 208 Securities Analysts’ Recommendations 211 Credit Rating Agency Actions 212 Legal and Regulatory Actions Taken 212 Appendix XIX: Waste Management, Inc. 214 Business Overview 214 Restatement Data 214 Accounting/Audit Firm 216 Stock Price 216 Securities Analysts’ Recommendations 219 Credit Rating Agency Actions 219 Legal and Regulatory Actions 219 Page iv GAO-03-138 Financial Restatements Contents Appendix XX: Xerox Corporation 225 Business Overview 225 Restatement Data 225 Accounting/Audit Firm 226 Stock Price 227 Securities Analysts’ Recommendations 228 Credit Rating Agency Actions 229 Legal and Regulatory Actions Taken 229 Appendix XXI: Listing of Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Releases (AAER) 236 Appendix XXII: Frequently Cited Violations 243 Appendix XXIII: Side-by-Side of the Existing Corporate Governance and Oversight Structure and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 244 Appendix XXIV: GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments 260 GAO Contacts 260 Acknowledgments 260 Glossary 261 Tables Table 1: Number of Listed Restating Companies as a Percent of Average Listed Companies, 1997-2002 16 Table 2: Restatement Category Descriptions 22 Table 3: Summary of Immediate Market Impact on Restating Companies, 1997-2002 26 Table 4: Restating Companies’ Immediate Market Losses Compared with Total Stock Market Capitalization, 1997-2002 27 Table 5: Summary of Intermediate Market Impact on Restating Companies, 1997-2002 30 Table 6: Rule 102(e) and Cease and Desist Actions Against CPAs and Accounting Firms, January 2001-February 2002 53 Table 7: NYSE Rules 472 and 351 and NASD Rule 2711 Changes Affecting Securities Analysts 65 Table 8: Case Studies 113 Table 9: Selected Financial Data, 1999–2001 118 Table 10: Selected Financial Data, 1998-1999 126 Table 11: Selected Financial Data, 2000-2001 137 Table 12: Selected Financial Data 1997-2001 147 Table 13: Selected Financial Data, 1999-2001 153 Page v GAO-03-138 Financial Restatements Contents Table 14: Selected Financial Data, March 2001 158 Table 15: Selected Financial Data, 1997-1999 164 Table 16: Selected Financial Data 1995–1999 172 Table 17: Selected Financial Data, 1997-2000 179 Table 18: Selected Financial Results, 1997–1999 188 Table 19: Selected Financial Data, 2000 193 Table 20: Selected Financial Data, 1998–2001 198 Table 21: Selected Financial Data, 1996 – 1998 202 Table 22: Selected Financial Data, 1996-2000 208 Table 23: Selected Financial Data, 1992-1999 216 Table 24: Selected Financial Data, 1997–2000 226 Table 25: Listing of AAER Cases, January 2001-June 2002 236 Table 26: Accounting and Auditing Related Federal Securities Laws or Rules Violations 243 Table 27: Side-by-Side Comparison of Existing Structure and New Sarbanes-Oxley Structure 245 Figures Figure 1: Total Number of Restatement Announcements Identified, 1997-2002 15 Figure 2: Percent of Listed Companies Restating, 1997-2002 19 Figure 3: Restatements by Reason, 1997-June 2002 21 Figure 4: Who Prompted Restatements, 1997-June 2002 24 Figure 5: Immediate Market Impact on Market Capitalization of Restating Companies by Restatement Reason, January 1, 1997-March 27, 2002 29 Figure 6: UBS/Gallup Investor Optimism Index, October 1996– August 2002 34 Figure 7: Effect of Accounting Concerns on Investor Confidence in the Stock Market, February 2002–July 2002 36 Figure 8: Equity Mutual Fund Net Flows, June 2001–July 2002 41 Figure 9: SEC Enforcement Process 46 Figure 10: Number of AAERs and Total SEC Enforcement Actions Initiated, 1990-2001 49 Figure 11: Existing System of Corporate Governance and Accounting Oversight Structures 56 Figure 12: Daily Stock Prices for Adelphia, December 1, 2001–May 14, 2002 120 Figure 13: Daily Stock Prices for Aurora, October 1, 1999—October 31, 2000 127 Figure 14: Daily Stock Prices for Critical Path, August 1, 2000-August 31, 2001 138 Page vi GAO-03-138 Financial Restatements Contents Figure 15: Daily Stock Prices for Enron, May 1, 2001–June 28, 2002 149 Figure 16: Daily Stock Prices for Hayes, March 1, 2001-December 6, 2001 154 Figure 17: Daily Stock Prices for JDS Uniphase, October 2, 2000– October 31, 2001 160 Figure 18: Daily Stock Prices for MicroStrategy, September 1, 1999– September 29, 2000 167 Figure 19: Daily Stock Prices for Orbital, August 3, 1998–September 29, 2000 174 Figure 20: Daily Stock Prices for Rite Aid, December 1, 1998– December 31, 1999 182 Figure 21: Daily Stock
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