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SEC Launches Take-Two Investigation
crecente writes "Take-Two, already the subject of a Grand Jury inquiry, is now being 'informally investigated' by the Securities and Exchange Commission. This latest investigation looks at stock option grants made by the company from Jan. 1997 to the present. Just how many investigations can a publically traded company handle before their stock turns to worthless paste?"
No
The Blaster Master Fighting for Truth, Justice, and Evil Pie since 1979
"It's okay folks, this is just an informal investigation (tm) so just, you know... go about your usual illegal activities, or whatever. Just pretend I'm not here."
Meta will eat itself
at least....
The "article" doesn't say hardly anything about what the news is. Does anyone have a link with some details, like what kinda stock-granting issues are alleged? I initially felt bad for doodling on my Take-Two stock certificates, but they're probably worth more as artwork now...
stuff |
But that's what the smart kid sitting in front of me had for the answer!
I don't know, but I'm sure that as long as they're turning teenager's brains into worthless paste they'll be in the clear.
disclaimer: I've been known to store numbers in my ass for which to dig out when quantities are required.
The taggers are definitely getting cynical when an article about a grand jury inqury and an SEC investigation is tagged as "games".
Errr... "publically"? And "trade" when "traded" is meant?
This needed cleaning up before posting
Score another one for http://www.sarbanes-oxley.com/. EETimes.com has been keeping a count of other companies in hot water for back-dating stock option grants at http://www.eetimes.com/scandal.html
The sad thing is that with legal fees, it is almost impossible for average Joe to survive after something like this. ---- GREPGROK!
gotta love those sell shorts just before a story like this becomes public. I have been a long time follower of ttwo on the exchange since as far back as i can remember. Why have i been na avid trader and whatch htis one so close. simple,i am calm and can wait untill i know when DNF is ready to come. I hate to say it but the numbers are not looking good for them right now. I hate to say it but TTWO may get radioactive stat and no one will go near them, even if they did wrong or not. Will this effect the Duke in any way, i hate to say it but i think it is goign to have some effect. either this will push it (which i doubt george B and the gang will cave into such demand from there publishers. I have followd those guys at 3drealms for long time and i doubt thell cave in just ot help there publisher. will this mean duke will be released under a different publisher, it might be possible. this wouldnt be the first time duke has changed schedualed publishers (god games for example. Will i be wrong, i admit i am human, I admit i dont work for either compainys. question here is what would you do, if you worked for take two now think what you would do if you worked for 3drealms, now think what you would do if you where neather and you traded ttwo stock?
Since when does the SEC launch "informal" investigations, and more importantly, since when does the SEC acknowledge that they're investigating any company? The SEC is a bit like the Spanish Inquisition (NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition!), in that you don't know they're investigating you until they come knocking on your door with subpoenas and start carting aways boxes full of corporate financial documents.
The SEC has launched a very wide ranging inquiry that's touching virtually every major tech company from the 90s. The issue is the backdating of stock options to the stock's lowest price in the period, and how that was accounted for financially. It's not clear what's been done wrong by anyone, and looks like some fairly technical accounting issues will result in some fines for improper handling of the charges. Regardless, this is cleanup of the wild west 90s, when everyone was handing out options like candy. It says nothing about Take Two that it doesn't likewise say about every dot com.
Anyone who loves or hates any language, platform, or manufacturer, doesn't know what they're talking about.
Kids: Mr Owl, Just how many investigations can a publically trade company handle before their stock turns to worthless paste?
Owl: Lets find out.
One, *lick*
Two, *lick*
Three, *CRUNCH*.
Three.
What pattern should an investor's thought pattern follow in this gray area of the law? Obviously one can surmise that a company under investigation could quite possibly have serious financial problems which they might be hiding, a la Enron et al.
So does that mean that immediately upon hearing of investigatory action the investor in said company should dump all stock? Say they choose that route. Then the investigation reveals that the company was indeed breaking the law. Then it was a wise choice to dump the stock. But what if the investigation reveals the company wasn't breaking the law? Does the stock then get a noticable, predictable bump? I am seriously asking these questions.
If the norm is that after a positive result, i.e. no law-breaking was found, the stock does not go up, then the only logical answer is to dump the stock no matter what when the investigation is announced. So in this respect whoever hears about the investigation first gets to lose the least amount of money. Which is to say, probably the company owners and employees. Is that insider trading? Again, I am seriously asking these questions.
And what of the possbility of a more secretive investigation? Because in this case it certainly seems like the company in question is essentially guilty until proven innocent, and possibly punished before any proof is found. This certainly seems to breach the idea of constitutional rights.
Is there really any way to make this less damaging to the companies?
TLF
I do not respond to cowards. Especially anonymous ones.
This is government harassment, pure and simple.
Schwab
Editor, A1-AAA AmeriCaptions
"Just how many investigations can a publically trade company handle before their stock turns to worthless paste?"
One... two... *CRASH* three
It's three
Mmm, paste... *drool*
SEC is just concerned that you dot your i's and cross your t's with financial paperwork. Really, RTFA.
Err...maybe you should quit pasting that long enough to reread the wiki entry you linked.
Um, 42?
"Prepare for the worst - hope for the best."
Not for nothing, but the Grand Jury will indict just about anything. They look at a case and see it as black and white. The evidence needed for them to pass down an indictment is minimal at best. They look at it as "is there anything?, if yes let the courts figure it out"
I am pretty sure they could indict a wet paper bag if they felt the need.
That being unused assets making games larger than they need to be. This is one of the thigns MS claims the Xbox 360 dev kit helps with. It supposedly helps you track down these unused assets so you can remove them from your game and get more space for ones that you are using on the DVD. Normally they just don't get the press that this one did.
You can see it in other games though. In Civ 4 there's mods that enable so called "lost wonders" they have videos and everything. Basically, Firaxis decided to produce all the content needed for these, but for various reasons decided not ot use them in the final game. They then just left the assets on the DVD (they weren't short on space). They probably could have even removed them without much testing, given the highly modular nature of the game, but it just wasn't worth it. Gave modders something to tool around with at any rate.
...the SEC would target SCO's "interesting" stock option arrangements.
>Just how many investigations can a publically trade company handle before their stock turns to worthless paste?
Gee, I dunno, let's ask Microsoft or IBM.
If a company is financially strong, they'll shrug off investigations *even if* the allegations are found to be true. It's only when companies are already tottering, that investigations can make investors lose confidence.
Nostalgia's not what it used to be.
For releasing Battlecruise 3000 AD upon the world - they are reaping what they have sown.
Programming: Its not just a job - its an indenture.
When are Verizon, Sprint, etc going to be investigated for not
allowing consumers to put their own applications on to their phones?
Is that the name of their new game? Do I get to play a lawyer?
Strafe does not mean the same thing as sidestep.
It does now. Welcome to the wonderful world of linguistic change.
Hey, doctors! Treacle does NOT mean the same thing as syrup! Everyone who uses "treacle" in any sense other than its original meaning of "snakebite serum" is illiterate!!!!111lol stfu
... will come out of the woodwork. Within 24 hours, Jack Thompson will be screaming about how he's won his battle to utterly destroy Take Two. This won't destroy Take Two. If the SEC finds something, they'll pay a fine. Which means the new Tennis game will cost 50 cents more.
Could this affect the release of Duke Nukem Forever?
This is a maliciously motivated, willful misunderstanding of how software development is performed ... This is government harassment, pure and simple.
You are seriously mistaken, the rules are very different when you are putting your investor's money at risk. A company is legally required to inform investors of risks. Leaving content in a game that may result in product recalls, remastering and replacements, lawsuits, etc may be the sort of thing that investors have a right to know about. Having the SEC look into this seems very reasonable.
The "offensive" data was disconnected from the main game, but not fully removed. The reason it wasn't removed is because, when you're that close to a drop-dead ship date, you don't suddenly start yanking out huge wads of data and code because that will invalidate all your testing to date, and you'll have to re-test the entire damned game, which you don't have time for. So they did the next best thing -- they severed all the connections to it. In the annals of software engineering, this is considered, "good enough." And it's more than good enough for the likes of these pencil-pushing bureaucrats.
All owners know that when they take their company public there will be a huge increase in regulations and paperwork, and changes in day-to-day business practices. If you want to take investor's money, you have to accept the former. When management makes decisions like those you describe they are legally required to consider the potential impact on investors.
As far as the information noted within the article is concerned, T2I isn't the subject of any such thing. That's a subpoena for records. Any case involving the grand jury can issue a grand jury subpoena for such information if one of the parties so chooses. This doesn't say anything about T2I.
Note that both articles are put out by the same site -- and, gasp, the same journalist. I'd say that the bad press involved might be personal.
Perhaps someone is trying to turn their stock into worthless paste. I'm sure there are plenty of people in government who would love to be morality police.
quia potentia mens mentis