Keeping its promise to crack down on improperly dated grants of stock options, the Securities and Exchange Commission has filed new backdating charges against former executives of a defense contractor, even as rumors swirled that the Commission is closed to generating some sort of formula to determine penalties for companies caught in such cases.
The SEC last week filed civil charges against Gary Gerhardt and Steven Landmann, the former chief financial officer and controller, respectively, of Engineered Support Systems. The agency says the two participated in a six-year scheme to manipulate the timing of stock option grants at the St. Louis company, where they granted undisclosed, in-the-money stock options to themselves and to other Engineered Support officers, employees, and directors.
