IP: Time to Look at Stock Options' Real Cost

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Time to Look at Stock Options' Real Cost
> http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/21/business/yourmoney/21WATC.html?pagewanted=print



IN these times of terror, it is gratifying to see a lawmaker stand up 
against a force of destruction in our midst.
Last week, word came that Representative Michael G. Oxley, the Ohio 
Republican who is chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services, 
had taken a stand against true evil: the International Accounting Standards 
Board. His act of bravery was voicing his determination to keep America 
safe from the proper accounting of companies' stock options.
How corporations account for the stock options they bestow, mostly on top 
executives, may not appear crucial to a nation at war against terrorism. 
But Mr. Oxley seems to think that America is imperiled if its companies can 
no longer overstate earnings by misrepresenting their employee costs.
Mr. Oxley, who did not respond to an interview request, led his charge with 
letters opposing an effort by the accounting board to re-examine how 
companies account for stock options. To Harvey L. Pitt, the chairman of the 
Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr. Oxley wrote that forcing companies 
to charge the value of options against earnings would harm American workers 
"in a profound way." And he urged Paul A. Volcker, chairman of the trustees 
who oversee the accounting board and former chairman of the Federal 
Reserve, to focus on other projects that are more likely to bring respect 
to the organization.
After a bruising battle in 1993


For archives see:
http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/