SEC orders CEOs, CFOs to certify accuracy of annual reports - SEC News - Securities and Exchange Commission - Brief Article

California CPA, August, 2002

The SEC has published a list of 945 companies whose CEOs and CFOs now are required to certify personally--in writing, under oath and for publication--that their most recent reports filed with the SEC are both complete and accurate. Officers who make false certifications will face personal liability.

Says SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt, "We are demanding that CEOs and CFOs swear that the numbers they've reported in their financial reports are correct and that they've left nothing important out."

The order is intended to assure the investing public and the SEC that corporate disclosures in reports already filed this year are in compliance with federal securities laws, and to quickly provide information about those companies that are not in compliance. The order applies to companies with reported annual revenues in excess of $1.2 billion.

The SEC's order and list of companies covered by the order are posted at www.sec.gov/rules/other/4-460.htm.>

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