(The news featured below is a selection from the news covered in Federal Securities Law Reporter, which is distributed to subscribers of Federal Securities Law Reporter.)

Attorney Sanctioned in Options Backdating Case

The SEC sanctioned the former general counsel of Monster, Inc. in connection with allegedly improper options backdating. As alleged, the general counsel engaged in a fraudulent scheme to grant undisclosed, in-the-money options to himself and others, by backdating stock option grants to coincide with historically low closing prices for the company's stock. The general counsel also allegedly directed the issuance of options to employees without obtaining approval from the company's compensation committee as required by the terms of the company's stock option plans, and discarded documentation to prevent anyone from being able to detect the fraud. He was suspended from practicing or appearing before the SEC.

Release No. 34-55587 will be published in a forthcoming Report.