Apple delays SEC filing
Caught up in stock-option scandal, company postpones filing due to grants review and expected restatements.
The information became public Friday in a filing Apple made with the SEC. Scores of tech companies, including News.com publisher CNET Networks, are under federal investigation over the possible manipulation of the timing of stock option grants.
Apple, which announced in late June that it found questionable stock option grants for the period between 1997 and 2001, noted that its internal investigation is still ongoing.
"Based on the evidence of irregularities discovered to date, management has concluded, and the audit committee of the board of directors agrees, that the company will likely need to restate its historical financial statements," Apple said.
The company has not yet determined the amount of the charges or the related tax and accounting consequences.
The now-delayed SEC filing, called a 10-Q, was supposed to follow Apple's release of its third-quarter results last month. After companies announce their quarterly results publicly, they must later file a much more detailed report with the SEC. Apple said it will file its more detailed report once its internal investigation is complete.