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Actual for You - Verisign Fraud - Class Action Lawsuit Settlement
Making the Best of Your Time and ResourcesCongratulations! You’re the new maintenance manager of Megamonolith Corporation. Although you’re exited about the position, you realize you have your work cut out for you. Megamonolith recently bought out another company, and you’re assigned to the site. During your first six months, you conduct a facilities audit and discover that the prior maintenance program consisted only of breakdown repairs. (For information about facility audits, please refer to my white paper “The Facilities Audit” available through my website at www.fps-fm.com.)One of the first things you need to do is establish a work coordination and management program that helps you and your staff identify, prioritize, plan, and track corrective actions. The same process must be used by everyone involved in maintenance, and at every location. How can you do this?The system we propose provides these important benefits:1.Easy retrieval and dissemination of information.2.Ensures immediate response for emergencies and safety related issues.3.Avoids wasted time.4.Provides easy to follow guidelines and standards.5.Uses off the shelf software.6.Establishes procedures.7.Highly cost effective.The central point of a maintenance planning system is the Work Reception and Coordination Center, or WRCC. Depending on the size of your facilities, it may be a group of personnel or a single specialist who may even be an outsourced service provider. The WRCC is a single point of submission for all work requests; prioritizes and coordinates all work requests, and provides a current status of all work in process. Through use of database applications, the WRCC provides critical information
Issues
Plaintiffs argue five key categories of misrepresentations:
1. Defendants inflated accounts receivable, revenue and deferred revenue by improperly accounting for two-year auto-renewals on domain names, and acquired deferred revenue.
2. Defendants used improper accounting to recognize revenue on roundtrip and barter transactions.
3. Defendants failed to adequately reserve for uncollectible delinquent receivables thereby overstating earnings.
4. Defendants misreported domain name registrations by concealing the number of free and promotional registrations and two-year auto-renewal
American manufacturers are turning away lucrative business because they can't attract or retain enough qualified workers. Productivity diminishes when there are not enough skilled employees, and the situation convinces – or forces – many employers to lower their hiring standards while simultaneously canceling profitable contracts.The Jacksonville Business Journal, for example, recently reported that Atlantic Marine Holding Company in Florida has passed up millions of dollars worth of new business due to a lack of productivity based on too few employees. As alarming as that might sound, the incident is not an isolated one. Businesses across the manufacturing sector are experiencing significant shortages and rates of attrition that directly affect the bottom line. In fact, a recent survey by the Manufacturing Institute, the research arm of the Washington D.C. based National Association of Manufacturers, revealed that 90% of manufacturers report a moderate to severe shortage of qualified skilled production employees.5 Proven Ways to Attract and Keep Quality EmployeesTo overcome this challenge, manufacturers need to take a vigorous and proactive approach.Here are 5 ways to attract quality employees and retain those you have already trained:• Use dynamic marketing techniques.Posting a dry job description is no longer enough to attract good candidates. Don't view hiring opportunities as mere job postings but instead approach them like an advertising campaign. Use the expertise and creativity of your marketing team and employ direct response writing techniques to improve your response rates.• Offer job candidates a unique, exciting experience.Differentiate yourself with recruiting orientation video
United States district court, northern district of California was the start of Verisign’s (“the Company”) class action complaint for a violation of securities laws. Plaintiff, James H. Harrison Jr., on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated filed vs. Verisign, Inc., Stratton D. Sclavos, Robert J. Korzeniewski, Dana L. Evan and Quintin P. Gallivan. The “class” period is for people who purchased shares of the company between January 25 and April 25 2002.
The defendant Verisign is headquartered in Mountain View California and offers users the ability to engage in secure digital commerce and communications. Verisign’s stock is traded on the NASDQ national market.
Allegations
The allegation is that the defendants tried to artificially increase the Company’s revenue and create the perception that its deferred revenue was being generated organically rather than through acquisition. It is claimed that the Company derived a portion of its revenue from non-monetary barter transactions and investments in other companies. The later claim stated simply, they were financing the payments they were receiving for their goods and services.
The complaint states that the revenues were dubious at best and claimed that “whenever a two-way set of transactions occurs in which a company acts as the lender and service provider, an investor lacks assurance as to whether the related parties would have made a similar decision regarding purchases in the absence of financing from the company”. They claimed that because of this it was not possible to get an accurate measure of the real demand for Verisign’s products.
The complaint also alleges that the defendants misrepresented the company’s prospects and failed to properly disclose improper acts until they were able to sell at least $26 million of their own stock, and also to buy companies in stock-for-stock transactions. Verisign violated Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and Securities Exchange rules by engaging in improper barter transactions. These activities dramatically overstated the company’s margins in its financial statements.
The final complaint states that in addition to the above activities, the defendants had other material information that they concealed from the plaintiffs. The defendants concealed an acquisition because they wanted the public to get the impression that the company’s revenue growth was organic when in fact it was not. Statements were made concerning the company’s ability to grow its operating margins that were “simply impossible”. The integration of two acquisitions was a disaster and clients began to decline rather than grow as the defendants had stated. Other information that was withheld by the defendants included; quickly losing market share to the competitors because of outrageous prices, the company’s web certificate business would post zero growth for the year, the ESP division would post zero organic growth and the fact that 100% of the growth was from acquisitions, the domain name business was losing customers at the rate of 11,000 per day, contrary to statements made by the defendants recent acquisitions would cost $80 million more than expected, receivables were dubious and allowance for doubtful accounts had increased five times over the prior period and lastly the company manipulated its Days Sales Outstanding to paint a rosier picture.
Issues
Plaintiffs argue five key categories of misrepresentations:
1. Defendants inflated accounts receivable, revenue and deferred revenue by improperly accounting for two-year auto-renewals on domain names, and acquired deferred revenue.
2. Defendants used improper accounting to recognize revenue on roundtrip and barter transactions.
3. Defendants failed to adequately reserve for uncollectible delinquent receivables thereby overstating earnings.
4. Defendants misreported domain name registrations by concealing the number of free and promotional registrations and two-year auto-renewal
Affiliate - the buzz word of the internet. But what is an affiliate? Why would you choose to become one? How do you make money? Is there a capital outlay to become an affiliate?Lets start at the beginning - I want you to seriously consider these questions before reading on.1. Are you looking for another way to earn money?2. Are you willing to spend a minimum of 1 hour a day on the computer?3. Are you willing to learn?If you answered yes to one or more of these questions you need to understand affiliate marketing.What I am going to do is give you information in layman's terms so those who are not big on using the computer can understand.Affiliates are simply businesses or individuals who associate themselves with other business that provide goods or services.If this sounds too simple a concept for you maybe you have been looking too hard for a business opportunity.Let me simplify it for you. Lets say you own a traditional retail outlet. to ensure stock you have to pay a wholesale price for goods to resell to others for a profit. The problem with this is you have had to pay up front for the goods and run a risk of not selling all products purchased.An affiliate on the other hand could be classified as an online retailer. Instead of purchasing products and services up front an affiliate offers to advertise a company and their associated products and services. In return for each sale made through the affiliate the company will pay them a margin - usually a percentage of total purchase price.This is fantastic because the affiliate doesn't have to have a retail shop, doesn't have to buy products up front and best of all doesn't have to have a website.It may seem a biz
The complaint states that the revenues were dubious at best and claimed that “whenever a two-way set of transactions occurs in which a company acts as the lender and service provider, an investor lacks assurance as to whether the related parties would have made a similar decision regarding purchases in the absence of financing from the company”. They claimed that because of this it was not possible to get an accurate measure of the real demand for Verisign’s products.
The complaint also alleges that the defendants misrepresented the company’s prospects and failed to properly disclose improper acts until they were able to sell at least $26 million of their own stock, and also to buy companies in stock-for-stock transactions. Verisign violated Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and Securities Exchange rules by engaging in improper barter transactions. These activities dramatically overstated the company’s margins in its financial statements.
The final complaint states that in addition to the above activities, the defendants had other material information that they concealed from the plaintiffs. The defendants concealed an acquisition because they wanted the public to get the impression that the company’s revenue growth was organic when in fact it was not. Statements were made concerning the company’s ability to grow its operating margins that were “simply impossible”. The integration of two acquisitions was a disaster and clients began to decline rather than grow as the defendants had stated. Other information that was withheld by the defendants included; quickly losing market share to the competitors because of outrageous prices, the company’s web certificate business would post zero growth for the year, the ESP division would post zero organic growth and the fact that 100% of the growth was from acquisitions, the domain name business was losing customers at the rate of 11,000 per day, contrary to statements made by the defendants recent acquisitions would cost $80 million more than expected, receivables were dubious and allowance for doubtful accounts had increased five times over the prior period and lastly the company manipulated its Days Sales Outstanding to paint a rosier picture.
Issues
Plaintiffs argue five key categories of misrepresentations:
1. Defendants inflated accounts receivable, revenue and deferred revenue by improperly accounting for two-year auto-renewals on domain names, and acquired deferred revenue.
2. Defendants used improper accounting to recognize revenue on roundtrip and barter transactions.
3. Defendants failed to adequately reserve for uncollectible delinquent receivables thereby overstating earnings.
4. Defendants misreported domain name registrations by concealing the number of free and promotional registrations and two-year auto-renewal
What's easy to forget when you're looking for a new job is that you are interviewing the company as much as they are interviewing you. It's about match and exchange. Do they have what you want? Do you have what they want?If you feel desperate for a job, everything about the company, position, and people may look a lot rosier than it probably is. You're much more vulnerable taking whatever's offered rather than assessing the situation for real, personal satisfaction. The same can happen if the company is desperate for you. They may view your abilities as greater than they are, and you may end up in a spot where it's tough for you to succeed.Before any interview, do your homework. If it's a public company, check stock market performance. What's the stock price trend? Do they have a track record of hitting performance targets?Check out the company's web site for quarterly and annual reports. Even if you can't understand the spreadsheets, read the descriptive overview. What markets are they in? What are their products or services? Who are their competitors and how do they rank against them?If it's a private company, find articles on the web from the last 12 months to help you. Also, ask around. Perhaps you'll uncover a reputation or insight you wouldn't know otherwise.Come to the interview prepared with questions to ask. Here are some suggestions for new questions to ask and what to listen for in the response.-What's been the company's growth the last three to five years? Wall Street measures growth by financial numbers, typically revenues, or profits. If they tell you only the customer or production growth, they may be avoiding the fact that profits didn't increase. Do they portray company growth the same as
The complaint also alleges that the defendants misrepresented the company’s prospects and failed to properly disclose improper acts until they were able to sell at least $26 million of their own stock, and also to buy companies in stock-for-stock transactions. Verisign violated Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and Securities Exchange rules by engaging in improper barter transactions. These activities dramatically overstated the company’s margins in its financial statements.
The final complaint states that in addition to the above activities, the defendants had other material information that they concealed from the plaintiffs. The defendants concealed an acquisition because they wanted the public to get the impression that the company’s revenue growth was organic when in fact it was not. Statements were made concerning the company’s ability to grow its operating margins that were “simply impossible”. The integration of two acquisitions was a disaster and clients began to decline rather than grow as the defendants had stated. Other information that was withheld by the defendants included; quickly losing market share to the competitors because of outrageous prices, the company’s web certificate business would post zero growth for the year, the ESP division would post zero organic growth and the fact that 100% of the growth was from acquisitions, the domain name business was losing customers at the rate of 11,000 per day, contrary to statements made by the defendants recent acquisitions would cost $80 million more than expected, receivables were dubious and allowance for doubtful accounts had increased five times over the prior period and lastly the company manipulated its Days Sales Outstanding to paint a rosier picture.
Issues
Plaintiffs argue five key categories of misrepresentations:
1. Defendants inflated accounts receivable, revenue and deferred revenue by improperly accounting for two-year auto-renewals on domain names, and acquired deferred revenue.
2. Defendants used improper accounting to recognize revenue on roundtrip and barter transactions.
3. Defendants failed to adequately reserve for uncollectible delinquent receivables thereby overstating earnings.
4. Defendants misreported domain name registrations by concealing the number of free and promotional registrations and two-year auto-renewal
The persistent truth is that the scale of the challenges we face globally has changed the entire context for how business operates and contributes. Global warming has gone from being denied to coffee shop conversation. The implications global warming has on the future of humanity creates speculation and, for the most part, fear or disbelief.Meanwhile, at a deeper level people sense the need to evolve, to tap into what holds deeper meaning and want to make a higher level of contribution. Accompanying this underlying force is the real need for high performance leadership; leadership that merges the untapped capacity for self-performance with group leadership and takes it to whole new levels.This is the stuff frequently overlooked or dismissed as esoteric distraction while corporate leadership grapples with the usual demands along with the appearance of new more complex issues many of which have risen much like the sea levels, quietly yet forcefully catalyzing the shift to higher ground.The notion that there is immense talent lying dormant within each individual underneath childhood preprogrammed limitations is established by cellular biology and well articulated by Dr. Bruce Lipton. From the ages of 0-6 children operate from brainwave frequencies that function like a tape recorder, taking in all the messages, both limiting and empowering, and storing them into the subconscious. Unless those limiting beliefs are replaced they become the foundation that the individual sees the world through. It shows in individual and collective performance and in personal and professional relationships.When the working environment is perceived to be unsafe, employees will unknowingly yet naturally, repress their expression and contributio
Issues
Plaintiffs argue five key categories of misrepresentations:
1. Defendants inflated accounts receivable, revenue and deferred revenue by improperly accounting for two-year auto-renewals on domain names, and acquired deferred revenue.
2. Defendants used improper accounting to recognize revenue on roundtrip and barter transactions.
3. Defendants failed to adequately reserve for uncollectible delinquent receivables thereby overstating earnings.
4. Defendants misreported domain name registrations by concealing the number of free and promotional registrations and two-year auto-renewal
Planning a San Francisco Meeting?San Francisco is unique amongst cities in the U.S. Facets of the East Coast combine with the history of the 60’s and the technology of today to make for one of the most fascinating cities in the nation. Her associations with Silicon Valley’s major companies make San Francisco a frequent meeting place and convention locale. There’s a certain charm about the place that has brought many to agree with Tony Bennett, who sang the famous "I Left My Heart In San Francisco," so many years ago.So you’ve got a meeting to plan for in Shaky Town? That’s good news! With just a bit of help, you’ll be on your way to a great meeting, and you’ll have a blast setting it up!Though it’s all loosely referred to as San Francisco, the Bay Area sprawls, with the San Francisco Bay itself as a natural barrier. Even though it has an excellent reputation for public transportation, rather than counting on everyone being able to figure out how to use the BART system, it’d probably be best to determine what part of the city suits the needs of the majority. Allow for that those who live in San Fran already will either have the BART system wired or have their own cars. If need be, a van can be rented to chauffeur the attendees around. Of course, many hotels offer free shuttle service to and from the airport as well.One consideration will be the duration of the conference. If you’re only meeting for a day or two and people are coming in from outside the Bay area, it’d probably be best to accommodate the visitors by scheduling the meetings at one of the many hotels with facilities. This is the most common approach, but may not be the most memorable.Is it strictly business, or do you have some creative latitu
Issues
Plaintiffs argue five key categories of misrepresentations:
1. Defendants inflated accounts receivable, revenue and deferred revenue by improperly accounting for two-year auto-renewals on domain names, and acquired deferred revenue.
2. Defendants used improper accounting to recognize revenue on roundtrip and barter transactions.
3. Defendants failed to adequately reserve for uncollectible delinquent receivables thereby overstating earnings.
4. Defendants misreported domain name registrations by concealing the number of free and promotional registrations and two-year auto-renewal registrations.
5. Defendants overstated earnings by failing to properly account for long-term investments in non-public companies and by failing to record impairment charges on many investments.
Specifically, Plaintiffs contend that VeriSign recognized $27 million in barter transactions, $10.5 million in reciprocal transactions, $64 million by roundtrip transactions and $12 million by improper accounting practices. Plaintiffs further allege that VeriSign failed to follow GAAP in terms of recording a $74 million impairment charge.
Defendants argue that companies regularly disclose their true financial condition and their stock price declines when they fail to meet the market expectations. Defendants further argue that Plaintiffs fail to allege that April 25, 2002 disclosure was responsible for the decline in stock price or revelation of any fraud by the company. The disclosure that causes the stock price to decline must be the subject matter of the misstatements or omissions that are the basis for plaintiffs’ securities fraud claims.
The Defendants site Dura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Broudo, 125 S. Ct. 1627, 1634 (2005) as an example. The Court held, however, that the complaint failed to claim “that Dura’s share price fell significantly after the truth became known,” and thus failed to provide defendants with notice of the causal connection between any economic loss and the alleged misrepresentation.
In another example of Tellium Inc, where the company suddenly reveled in January 2002 that it needed new customers to achieve its $288 million revenue guidance even after repeated assurances about its sales commitments, the Defendants pointed out the following. The court held that these allegations did not plead loss causation because “[p]laintiffs have failed to allege that the concealed scheme was ever disclosed to the market, thereby affecting the price of Tellium’s stock.”
Based on Plaintiffs inability to allege a causal connection between the alleged fraud and their alleged losses, the Defendants appealed that their motion should be granted. The courts found that the Plaintiffs have pled loss causation only with respect to the first category of fraud, namely, improper revenue recognition and misstatements of reciprocal and related party transactions. Hence the Plaintiffs continued to plead through future amendments trying to establish loss causation. On the contrary, the Defendants argued motion to dismiss on the pretext that the Plaintiffs were unable to establish loss causation by repeatedly stating that even though the market was unaware of the fraudulent scheme, April 25, 2002 disclosure was responsible for the price decline.
Court’s Findings Rule 10b-5 Claims
The court applies this rule that investors have a right to action if the company uses materially false or misleading statements that leads to harm of those who buy or sell that particular security. The claim must state a material representation, scienter, a purchase or sale of the security related to that representation, reliance on the information, and a loss caused by that reliance. In this case the “defendants do not challenge that the misstatements or omissions were made in connection with the purchase, reliance on thos
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