Backdating Options

Professor Oesterle (Business Law Prof Blog) says "Journalists continue to misunderstand the crisis -- it is a violation of disclosure requirements and a tax fraud to call "in the money" options "at the market" options." As I blogged earlier today, Oesterle also observes that "Lawyers, who should have sniffed out the practice (or may have even participated), are now cashing in as law firms are racking up the billing hours defending firms that may have undertaken the practice." After equating the current options scandal with "nickel and dime" abuse of their executive perquisites, Oesterle concludes that he has "an inherent distrust for high paid executives that nickel dime their own companies -- these folks are cheaters and are likely to get their companies into trouble on the big stuff. An executive that backdates options should be shown the door, before his cheating heart hurts the company on stuff that matters."