The chief executive of Beazer Homes has agreed to return $6.5m in cash and forfeit restricted stock to settle allegations that he failed to reimburse the US home builder after an alleged accounting fraud forced the company to restate its earnings in 2006, reports the FT. The SEC action marks the first time the agency has clawed back money from a sitting executive without pressing fraud charges. It marks a push by the regulator to seek return of incentive-based pay as allowed under the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley corporate governance law. Ian McCarthy, Beazer’s chief executive, settled the charges, filed in an Atlanta federal court on Thursday, without admitting or denying wrongdoing. The settlement comes amid a broader government effort to curb excessive risk-taking by executives. On Wednesday, the SEC proposed rules to allow the agency to ban awards to financial executives if it deems them excessive.

This entry was posted by Gwen Robinson on Friday, March 4th, 2011 at 4:35 and is featured in The 6am Cut London (4 Mar 2011) . Tagged with beazer, ian mccarthy, sarbanes-oxley, sec. Edit this entry.