The Sarbanes-Oxley Act is giving a boost to United Kingdom accounting firms, which are helping 40 of the country's top 100 firms to comply with the act.Because those 40 firms are listed publicly in the U.S., they are required to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley, which was passed in 2002 to clean up corporate America.The U.K.

The University of California and Lehman Brothers have agreed on a $222.5 million settlement in a class action suit that accuses the bank of misrepresentations while selling Enron stocks and bonds.The university, which is the lead plaintiff in the class action, lost $150 million when the company collapsed into bankruptcy three years ago. The Lehman Brothers settlement is the largest so far, Reuters reported."I'm happy they settled but it's larger than I expected," said Wayne Bopp, a financial services analyst with Ohio-based Fifth Third Investment Advisors.

In a case the Securities and Exchange Commission called one of the biggest pyramid schemes in history, federal prosecutors secured a guilty plea from another participant, who has agreed to testify against Stan Van Etten, former chief executive officer of International Heritage Inc., the News-Observer in North Carolina reported.David Walter Brown, 50, of Raleigh, IHI's outside accountant, pleaded guilty in federal court in Raleigh to a conspiracy charge, agreeing also to testify against Van Etten.

With stock prices falling and a new chief executive at the helm, Marsh & McLennan Cos. may quickly settle a civil suit filed by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, but it may cost $500 million or more.According to the Wall Street Journal, which cited people familiar with the matter, the financial services company is eager to settle charges that its insurance brokerage was involved in bid-rigging for its client's insurance contracts. Stocks have dropped more than 37 percent since the suit was filed Oct. 14, and Michael G.

A shareholder suit brought about by outrage over the severance package paid to former President Michael Ovitz is unveiling some deep dissention in the House of Mouse, the Wall Street Journal reported.The Walt Disney Co.'s current and former executives are the hot seat in a Delaware courtroom, defending themselves against a seven-year-old shareholder derivative lawsuit, the Wall Street Journal reported.The suit accuses Disney's board of failing in its fiscal responsibilities by not properly scrutinizing Ovitz's employment contract when he joined the company in 1995 and then granting him a

In a new conflict of interest case, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is finding signs that mutual-fund companies and other investment advisors paid retirement-plan consultants for referrals, the Wall Street Journal reported, quoting sources close to the SEC's year-long investigation.Last December, the SEC began an investigation of possible conflicts within the financial services industry, looking for “quid pro quo” arrangements between consulting firms and financial managers, especially when the two branches fall under the same umbrella company.Last week, New York Attorne

The following examples of fraud investigations are excerpts from public record documents on file in the court records in the judicial district in which the cases were prosecuted.151 Month Sentence ReceivedOn July 20, 2004 in Akron, OH, Gary Harris was sentenced to 151 months imprisonment, to be followed by 3 years supervised release, and a $95,000 fine.

Lily and Rene Guzman needed help with a federal tax debt, but the firm they hired did nothing more than take their money and leave them to fend for themselves. Those allegations are contained in a lawsuit the Guzmans, of Oakland, Calif., filed Tuesday in Alameda County Superior Court. The Guzmans allege that they paid $3,800 for the South Carolina-based firm of J.K. Harris to represent them in an Internal Revenue Service “offer-in-compromise” process, the Argus of Oakland reported.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is formally investigating allegations of accounting tricks by the mortgage giant Fannie Mae.In a disclosure filed with the SEC late Tuesday, Fannie Mae said the SEC “has initiated a formal order of investigation," Dow Jones Newswires reported.