SEC begins formal Bristol-Myers inquiry

Friday, August 30, 2002

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK -- The Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry into whether Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. improperly inflated its revenues last year by up to $1 billion has become a formal investigation, the company said yesterday.

The SEC declined to comment directly about the case but a spokesman said that a formal investigation means that staff members have found enough evidence to show that laws could have been violated. An investigation also gives staff members working on the case the power to issue subpoenas.

Last month, Bristol-Myers acknowledged that in April the SEC began examining whether its sales incentives to wholesalers in 2001 inflated revenues so that the company would meet earnings projections. The inventory glut caused by those incentives will slash the company's earnings by up to 50 percent this year.

Bristol-Myers said it still thinks its accounting treatment for the inventory was appropriate and will continue to cooperate with the SEC.

Seattle P-I

-- Anonymous, September 03, 2002