SEC Lists Firms to Certify Data

The Securities and Exchange Commission issued a list Friday of the top 945 U.S. publicly traded companies whose financial statements must be certified as accurate by their chief executive and financial officers.

The expected move comes after the disclosure this week by WorldCom Inc. (ticker symbol: WCOME) that an internal audit at the long-distance carrier found improper accounting of $3.9 billion in expenses.

CEOs and CFOs who make false certifications will face personal liability, the SEC said as the agency makes a push to restore investor confidence in the wake of recent accounting scandals to hit corporate America.

“We are demanding that CEOs and CFOs swear that the numbers they’ve reported in their financial reports are correct and that they’ve left nothing important out,” SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt said.

Pitt said chief executives and financial officers would have to personally certify the accuracy of financial books starting in mid-August.

The list, on the SEC’s Web site at www.sec.gov/rules/other/4-460list.htm, includes companies with annual revenue of more than $1.2 billion.

Among them are AOL Time Warner Inc. (AOL), Citigroup Inc. (C), Dow Chemical Co. (DOW), Eli Lilly Co. (LLY), General Electric Co. (GE), General Motors Corp. (GM), Hilton Hotels Corp. (HTL), Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT), McDonald’s Corp. (MCD), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Oracle Corp. (ORCL), Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) and United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS).

The SEC order requires a sworn written statement in which the officers must personally attest that the most recent financial statements are “materially truthful and complete.”

Otherwise, they must explain why such a statement would be incorrect.

The SEC order applies to annual and quarterly reports such as 10K and 10Q earnings statements; Form 8K disclosure statements and definitive proxy materials and any amendments filed with the SEC after the filing of the most recent 10K statement.