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he preliminary inquiry into the causes of the bankruptcy of Global Crossing brought in a primary distinction: GC, Inc., was not Enron, Inc. Global Crossing's accounting could be criticized for the use of devices that in fact tell less than what, in retrospect, we know we should have wanted to know. But it appears that nothing was concealed, that if the "swap" convention is finally adjudged formally deceptive, blame for using it by Global Crossing is tendentious. The chief executive of the company, John J. Legere, spoke of his company as the victim of an industry-wide slump, aggravated by overcapacity...

WASHINGTON, Mar 22, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- Officials of the bankrupt fiber optics giant Global Crossing denied on Thursday that deceptive accounting practices were part of their company's financial collapse. "Global Crossing is no Enron," they told skeptical lawmakers. "Some may see superficial similarities between Enron and Global Crossing," chief executive officer John Legere and chief financial officer Dan Cohrs said in a statement to a House Financial Services Committee panel. Indeed, they noted that, like the energy trading corporation, Global Crossing had seen a collapse in its stock price, had had executive stock sales and had...

The House Financial Services Committee is scheduled to hold the first Congressional hearing today on fallout from the bankruptcy filing of Global Crossing, whose financial collapse has fueled concerns about accounting practices at some telecommunications companies. Global Crossing, which is based in Bermuda but is managed from offices in Madison, N.J., and Beverly Hills, Calif., filed for bankruptcy protection in late January. The company, which says it has more than $22 billion in assets, has been accused of using questionable transactions to inflate its revenue improperly. The Securities and Exchange Commission and the F.B.I. are investigating Global Crossing's accounting practices....

lobal Crossing and the Blackstone Group, its bankruptcy adviser, did not disclose a complex communications-capacity deal that was reached with a Blackstone affiliate several months before Global Crossing filed for bankruptcy protection in late January, according to regulatory filings.The failure to disclose the earlier transaction raises questions about intricate dealings by Global Crossing executives and its business partners around the world as it approached a financial collapse last fall.Global Crossing's omission of the deal may have been a serious lapse by Global Crossing's management, several corporate governance experts said. The deal was reworked in January and is now under...

Global Crossing Ltd.'s chief executive and chief financial officer will testify before the House of Representatives this week about how the company's bankruptcy has affected workers, investors, and financial markets. Chief executive John Legere and CFO Dan Cohrs are scheduled to appear Thursday before the Committee on Financial Service's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, the company said Sunday. In letters to Legere and Cohrs, Rep. Sue Kelly, R-N.Y., said the hearing would ``examine the effects of the Global Crossing bankruptcy on investors, financial markets, and employees.'' Global Crossing filed the fourth-largest Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization case in history on Jan....

rom the beginning it was a seductive relationship, with mutual needs and desires overwhelming the warnings to proceed cautiously. Now one of the parties, Global Crossing, is said to owe about $95 million to the other, J. P. Morgan Chase (news/quote), which has little chance of recovering more than pennies on the dollar.Among the investment banks that did business with Global Crossing, J. P. Morgan Chase in particular saw Global Crossing as the main chance — a way to make its mark in telecommunications, a red-hot field for investment bankers in the late 90's.The mark, unfortunately, became a stigma....

<p>The unfolding scandal involving Global Crossing may be about to engulf an unlikely group: the U.S. labor movement. The labor connection involves a union-owned life insurance company that was one of the original investors in the fiber-optic outfit, providing some of initial seed money to Global founder Gary Winnick. It was a savvy deal for the unions that own the insurer, ULLICO Inc., earning the company a $500 million profit on a $7.6 million investment.........</p>

Arthur Andersen indicted for obstruction of justice in Enron scandal NOTHING FOLLOWS YET

LOU DOBBS is reporing that ERNEST YOUNG one of the TOP FIVE ACCOUNTING FIRMS HAS REFUSED TO ACQUIRE AA!!!!! This is NOT good NEWS!!!! if YOUNG refuses to accept AA offer to sell itself to YOUNG that means only one thing FOLKS!!!! AA is in FAR more seious shape then we realize and we could be looking at the other accountting firms REFUSING TO ACQUIRE AA as early as Mid April!!!!

<p>At an important bankruptcy hearing in New York today, Global Crossing executives will seek approval from a judge to sell the company to two Asian telecoms, one of which has close ties to the Chinese government. Permission should be denied. Given the slew of unanswered questions about the collapse of Global Crossing, which is being investigated by the FBI and the Securities and Exchange Commission, now is not the time to approve a hastily arranged transaction that raises serious national security questions.</p>

ASHINGTON, March 12 #151; The House Energy and Commerce Committee began an investigation today into accounting practices and executives' sales of company stock at Global Crossing, the telecommunications company that has filed for bankruptcy protection. Global Crossing faces accusations that it used sham transactions to increase revenue and that it misled investors about its financial health.A second House panel, the Financial Services Committee, plans to hold a hearing on March 21 to examine the downfall of Global Crossing, a committee aide said.The travails of Global Crossing have been largely ignored on Capitol Hill in the wake of the collapse...

WASHINGTON, Mar 12, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- A congressional committee on Tuesday asked bankrupt telecommunications company Global Crossing Ltd. to explain its accounting practices and compensation packages for top executives. The letter from leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee marked the first time congressional investigators have sought documents from Global Crossing, which filed for bankruptcy protection in January. Lawmakers said they want to determine whether Global Crossing. concealed its true financial condition, similar to the way Enron Corp. has acknowledged misstating earnings, revenue and debt in recent years. Global Crossing quot;may have engaged in similar...

March 8, 2002 House Panel to Seek Global Crossing Documents By REUTERS Filed at 4:31 p.m. ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee plans to seek a wide range of documents from bankrupt Global Crossing Ltd., which filed for bankruptcy and is being probed for alleged accounting improprieties, a panel spokesman said on Friday. The committee plans to seek the documents from the company in a letter to be sent on Monday, said Ken Johnson, a spokesman for the panel, which is delving into the company. He declined to provide further details. The company declined to ...

Li Ka-Shing's ties to the Chinese army has Global Crossing shareholders and Congress crying foul. In February Li, a Chinese billionaire, together a $750 million offer to buy out the bankrupt telecom giant Global Crossing. However, the plan by the close associate of Chinese President Jiang Zemin has come under fire from inside Congress and from Global Crossing's creditors. Li faces competitive bids for Global Crossing made by AT&T and New York-based KAB Group LLC, which has filed an alternative plan on behalf of the shareholders that proposes to raise $5.5 billion over the next three years. However, the financial ...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Global Crossing said Friday it will eliminate up to 1,600 more jobs, reduce executive salaries and close 71 offices in an attempt to reduce operating expenses by $600 million. The announcement is the latest attempt by the telecommunications company to stay afloat and satisfy creditors. The latest announced job cuts will reduce the firm's global work force from 15,000 at the beginning of 2001 to fewer than 6,000 by the end of March, the company said. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in January. It previously announced ...

At first glance, the financial collapse of Global Crossing Ltd. would seem a Republican windfall, a perfect counter to Democratic attempts to link the GOP to the implosion of Enron Corp. Just as Enron and its executives established close ties to many Republicans, including President Bush, so has Global Crossing proved generous to prominent Democrats. Terence R. McAuliffe, now chairman of the Democratic National Committee, invested $100,000 in Global Crossing stock and eventually realized a profit of "less than of $18 million," his aides say. In hiring lobbyists, the telecommunications company paid $2.5 million in stock and fees to Anne ...

Andersen has been stripped of business by two more giant US companies, raising concerns about the firm's ability to survive as one of the world's biggest accounting groups in the wake of the Enron scandal. Freddie Mac, the US housing finance institution and one of Andersen's largest clients by revenues, said on Wednesday it was switching auditors for the first time in its 32-year history. Separately, the Financial Times has learned that last week Ford Motor Company dropped Andersen as independent auditor in a pricing dispute with Visteon, its former captive parts supplier. The defection of Freddie Mac follows that ...

March 4, 2002 Global Crossing Head Under Scrutiny By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 5:33 p.m. ET LOS ANGELES (AP) -- John D. Rockefeller took 25 years to make his first billion. Gary Winnick needed only 18 months. Yet nearly five years after he took bold steps to create the world's most advanced fiber optic network, Winnick is at the center of a spectacular implosion of shareholder wealth. The descent of Global Crossing Ltd. (news/quote), of which Winnick was founder and chairman, was just as precipitous as the ride up. Losing almost $50 billion in market capital, on Jan. 28 ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Despite large donations and high-level connections in both U.S. political parties, Global Crossing Ltd. repeatedly failed to achieve its goals with the Federal Communications Commission, the Pentagon or in Congress, The Wall Street Journal said on Monday. By the end of the 2000 election cycle, the company and its employees had become the 23rd-largest donor in the country, larger than even Enron Corp., giving $2.8 million to federal candidates and political parties, the Journal said. The company now faces an array of federal investigations. It filed for bankruptcy protection in January after its stock price fell ...

A Washington-based legal group is seeking to block a Chinese company with ties to Beijing from acquiring Global Crossing, the bankrupt telecommunications giant that controls a worldwide fiber-optic network. Judicial Watch, a public interest law firm, is calling on the Bush administration to investigate attempts by Hutchison Whampoa to take over the stricken company. Ownership of crucial communications infrastructure by a company with direct ties to the communist Chinese government poses a direct threat to the national interests of the United States, said Thomas Fitton, Judicial Watch president. The acquisition would give China access to sensitive national security assets, Fitton ...