Charter to Pay $25 Million to Settle SEC Probe on Buybacks
November 14 2023 - 6:37PM
Dow Jones News
By Mark Maurer
Charter Communications agreed to pay $25 million to settle the
Securities and Exchange Commission's claims that the cable giant
violated rules around internal accounting controls when it issued
stock buybacks that weren't authorized by its board.
The SEC on Tuesday said Charter repeatedly used trading plans
that didn't adhere to SEC rules. From 2017 to 2021, the company
used plans that featured provisions allowing it to change the total
dollar amounts available to buy back stock and to change the timing
of buybacks after the plans took effect, the SEC said.
Charter had insufficient internal accounting controls,
specifically lacking in the ability to analyze whether the
discretion the provisions gave executives to alter its trading was
consistent with the board's authorizations, the regulator said.
"Charter's share repurchase plans were well documented, and were
fully disclosed as well as properly accounted for in Charter's
financial statements," the company said in a statement. Charter
said it cooperated with the SEC's probe and remains committed to
its share buyback program.
SEC commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda criticized the
SEC's claims, saying they represent inappropriate extensions of the
regulator's authority.
Write to Mark Maurer at mark.maurer@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 14, 2023 18:22 ET (23:22 GMT)
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