VeriSign CFO Resigns, Company Reveals Mishandled Stock Options Grants

VeriSign Inc. on Thursday said its CFO has resigned and that the company mishandled stock options grants, incurring an additional $160 million in compensation expenses.

The company, which manages the .com and .net domain names registry, revealed the upheaval in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. VeriSign blamed poor record-keeping and a lack of formal oversight for the financial troubles.

VeriSign assigned the wrong dates to stock options grants between 1998 and 2006. Most of the listed dates were when the stock prices were lower than the date the options actually were granted. This means VeriSign will have to retroactively compensate the affected shareholders.

CFO Dana Evan resigned July 10, presumably as a result of the options probe. Bart Clement, former senior vice president, finance and controller, has been elected to take Evans place.

VeriSign did announce on Jan. 31 that it had completed an independent review that did not find intentional wrongdoing by any current member of VeriSign’s senior management, including former CEO, Stratton Sclavos, who abruptly resigned in May, and Evan.

The companys stocks were trading 55 cents higher in the early afternoon on Friday, at $33.54.

VeriSign Inc. www.verisign.com