Delta Petroleum Says Execs Absolved of Backdating Allegations

January 30, 2007 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A special committee's conclusions after an internal investigation at Delta Petroleum cleared the company of accusations that it had engaged in stock options backdating, according to recent filing it made with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

According to the Rocky Mountain News, the Colorado-based company admitted to some “deficiencies in the documentation of (the company’s) option grants in prior years,” but said it found no evidence of backdating or other misconduct by its executives in connection with the improper timing of grants.

The firm had been accused in May, along with others, by the research firm Center for Financial Research & Analysis of exhibiting a pattern of granting options on days when the trading prices were low. The accusation prompted an internal investigation by a special committee appointed by the company, a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and an informal inquiry by the SEC.

The company said it handed over the findings of the internal investigation to the U.S. attorney and the SEC in August, but the new disclosure is the first time the company has revealed the special committee’s conclusions on those findings.  

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