From Rubber & Plastics News
Akron, Ohion-The US Securities and Exchange Commission has launched a formal investigation into the reinstatement of Goodyear's financial results over the last five years.
By formalising its probe, the SEC has more power and a wider jurisdiction. It now has the ability to subpoena witnesses, including those inside Goodyear, and has the authority to investigate outside the Akron-based firm.
The tyre maker also is conducting an investigation into possible improper accounting practices in Europe. That inquiry has spread to other overseas operations, a company spokesman said. Thus far, the company has not uncovered “anything that will have a material impact on our financial statement,†he said.
The internal accounting probe could delay the firm's filing of its 2003 annual report past a 15 March deadline, he said. It began in December after Goodyear completed its financial restatements for most of the previous five years. It has yet to file amended results for 2002.
