Nortel Networks Ltd.’s woes continue as Canada’s overriding securities regulator slammed a trading ban on some of its top executives, including directors, officers and insiders.
This follows the Ontario Securities Commission’s declaration that Nortel is in default of financial reporting rules. The situation compels the vendor to issue updates on its financial situation every two weeks. The company had announced it would review its earnings after finding discrepancies in its financial results for 2001, 2002 and the first two quarters of 2003. It turned out the company overstated its losses to the tune of about $900 million.
The decision did not seem to affect the vendor’s stock performance, as it moved up 8.3 percent on the New York Stock Exchange. Nortel has attracted class-action lawsuits for “misleading” its shareholders.
Nortel is also under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Nortel recently fired Frank Dunn, its chief executive officer, as well as its chief financial officer and controller.
