Comverse may be delisted
Comverse may be delisted from NASDAQ
Israeli company to correct previous reports dating back to 2001; Comverse announced indefinite delay in released 2005 financial reports
Israeli company Comverse could be delisted from NASDAQ after it announced that it has to correct previous financial reports dating back to 2001 because of stock options granted to senior management.
Following the announcement, the company's stock dropped 5 percent to USD 23 at the start of trading. The stock later reversed direction and went up.
Comverse announced that a special committee investigating the options the company awarded its senior staff found discrepancies between the dates that the options were given, as appears in the company reports, and the dates that the options were actually registered.
The experts committee, which is composed of members of Comverse's board of directors along with external managers initially recommended that Comverse should revise past annual reports.
Comverse announced on Monday that because of the latest development it will not be able to release its 2005 annual report and it expects NASDAQ to delist the company. Converse added that it will ask for a hearing before being de-listed.
If Comverse is removed from the stock exchange it will mark the second time an Israeli company is being delisted, after the Mercury software company was delisted over a stock options debacle. If delisted, Comverse stocks will be traded in the Pink Sheets, NASDAQ's secondary stock list.
