Civil Charges in Corporate Scandals (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised Feb. 23, 2006 |
| Report Number |
RL31961 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Mark Jickling, Government and Finance Division; and Paul H. Janov, Knowledge Services Group |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
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Summary:
Since the collapse of Enron Corp. in late 2001, there has been a series of scandals involving
major
U.S. corporations. This report lists civil suits filed by federal regulatory agencies charging
individuals and corporations with violations related to these scandals. The list is limited to
corporations and their officers or employees that fit within the Enron pattern. That is, these are cases
that allege one or more of the following: irregular accounting and auditing, management self-dealing,
conflicts of interest between firms and financial advisors (or Wall Street firms and their customers),
and manipulation or abusive trading in energy markets. Small "garden variety" examples of
securities or accounting fraud are excluded.
A number of these cases have also resulted in criminal indictments, some followed by guilty
pleas. These post-Enron criminal charges are listed in CRS Report RL31866 , Criminal
Charges in
Corporate Scandals , by Mark Jickling and Paul H. Janov.
The civil cases listed here include only those filed by federal regulatory agencies -- principally
the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but also a few actions by the Commodity Futures
Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Private
lawsuits, such as shareholder derivative actions, are not included, although many of the companies
listed are targets of multiple private suits brought by investors, employees, and others.
It should be noted that the most common form of resolution of civil cases like these is the
consent agreement, whereby the defendant neither admits nor denies any wrongdoing. Despite the
formal nonadmission of guilt, the consent agreement often imposes fines and other sanctions. These
are described in the list.
This report will be updated as events warrant.
