14 DAY TRIAL // We've just learned that the Securities and Exchange Commission is planning to review Apple's disclosures regarding its CEO's health problems, pressed by investors who need to know where things are headed. U.S. regulators are not kicking off the investigation following a particular lead - the SEC doesn't have any evidence of wrongdoing, according to Bloomberg, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Investors have been relentless since June last year when Apple's CEO appeared thin and weak before an audience. Ever since, Apple's stock has seen a continuous decline, with Apple's latest announcement – Steve Jobs' five-month leave – impacting price per share again.
“The good news flipped by the bad news makes one wonder what Apple knew,” said James Cox, a law professor at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. “It’s not surprising for the SEC to come in and look afterward, given the pressure and publicity regarding their handling of a lot of cases.” SEC spokesman John Nester declined to comment on the Apple inquiry, as did Steve Dowling, a spokesman for the Mac maker itself.
The SEC has a difficult task in inquiring Apple over its statements regarding Jobs' health, said Peter Henning, a former federal prosecutor and SEC lawyer who now teaches at Wayne State University Law School in Detroit. The main reason, Bloomberg reveals, is that it would probably have to show the company tried to benefit by withholding information. Mr. Jobs himself revealed in his open letter to the Apple Community that his health problems were more complex than originally anticipated. Analysts say “we're not buying it.”
“It would be difficult, and certainly a new area of the law,” Henning said. “You would have to pin down exactly what they knew, and with a health issue - unlike a merger or a decline in revenue - it’s not subject to definitive answers.”
Another general opinion says that Apple and its CEO are synonymous, explaining shareholders' interest in Jobs' wellbeing.