CEO must repay millions in bonuses
Fired HealthSouth Corp. CEO Richard Scrushy must repay $47.8 million in bonuses he wrongly received during a massive financial fraud at the rehabilitation and medical services chain, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled Friday.
The court unanimously upheld a lower court order that sided with a shareholder who sued Scrushy claiming the HealthSouth chief received the bonuses improperly as the scandal secretly engulfed the company.
Ruling for the first time on the legal claims in the case, the justices rejected Scrushy’s arguments that he was due to keep the money even though HealthSouth lost millions during the period when it was reporting profit.
The court previously ruled against Scrushy on a procedural point.
Scrushy was acquitted of all charges in the $2.7 billion fraud at HealthSouth, but he faces a possible federal prison sentence after being convicted in a separate state bribery scheme involving his tenure at HealthSouth.
DETROIT
Resignation may signal financial move at Ford
Robert Rubin’s resignation from the Ford Motor Co. board could mean that Citigroup Inc., where he also serves on the board, plans to talk to Ford about a loan or about advising the struggling automaker on the possible sale of its credit arm, some industry analysts say.
Rubin, a former U.S. treasury secretary, resigned from Ford’s board Thursday, citing potential conflict of interest with his duties at Citigroup, the nation’s biggest financial institution.
Rubin also is chairman of Citigroup’s executive committee and is a member of the chairman’s office.
Some analysts said the move announced Friday may be a sign that the Ford family will need financing for an alliance with another company or to take the automaker private.
WASHINGTON
Cash-rich Google seeks exemption from SEC
Search-engine giant Google Inc. has piled up so much cash that it is in danger of being mistaken for an investment fund.
The company, which wants to diversify its investment strategy but doesn’t want to be regulated as a mutual fund, has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to exempt it from regulations that can apply to a company with a lot of marketable securities on its balance sheet.
To that end, the Mountain View, Calif., company made a filing on July 20 to convince the SEC that it exists not to make investments, but to conduct an “Internet and new media business.”
Google’s most recent quarterly balance sheet listed assets totaling $14.4 billion, including $4 billion in cash and $5.8 billion in marketable securities.
JACKSON, Wyo.
Bernanke warns against protectionism
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke cautioned lawmakers to avoid the temptation to impose protectionist trade policies as the United States grapples with fierce competition from globalization.
Globalization has shrunk the world and made countries increasingly connected through economic ties.
The opportunities for companies to sell their goods to more countries can generate wealth and boost living standards.
That has benefited some workers, but has hurt those left behind in the changing worldwide economic landscape.
“Further progress in global economic integration should not be taken for granted,” Bernanke told an economics conference that explored the forces of globalization.
Bernanke’s remarks came amid higher trade tensions between the U.S. and China and as global trade talks have stalled.
Compiled from wire reports