Backdating Stock Options - The Perfect Way to Bet on a Horse Race?
Although the back dating of options appears to most of us to be akin to betting on a horse race after the race has run or just shortly before the finish line, I suspect that the legal implications of this latest financial scandal may be not be large, despite the SEC's criminal charges against the former CEO of Brocade.
The fraud is really a tax fraud: giving an employee on option worth money because of the back dating, but reporting to the IRS that the option was worthless because it wasn't in the money. This treatment of options no longer is available, and given that much of the option back dating in the tech industry may have been part of the vicious battle to retain talent, there may not be a real scandal here. But we will see.
Technorati Tags: financial scandal, tax fraud, dating, worth money, finish line, options, irs, option worth, horse race, criminal charges, legal implications, brocade, akin, vicious, betting, ceo, sec
