Monsanto to pay $80 million in SEC settlement over Roundup earnings

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

Monsanto to pay $80 million in SEC settlement over Roundup earnings

WASHINGTON | By Sarah N. Lynch
Tue Feb 9, 2016 2:32pm EST


Monsanto Co (MON.N) will pay $80 million to settle civil accounting violations after it allegedly misstated its earnings in connection with its top-selling Roundup product, U.S. securities regulators said on Tuesday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission also said that three accounting and sales executives have also agreed to settle charges in connection with the case.

The SEC's case against the agricultural giant revolves around a corporate rebate program designed to boost sales of Roundup, a popular weed killer. The rebate program was created to combat rising generic competition which threatened to cut into the company's profits.

The agency said that Monsanto had insufficient accounting controls to account for millions of dollars in rebates that it offered to retailers and distributors. It ultimately booked a sizeable amount of revenue, but then failed to recognize the costs of the rebate programs on its books.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-sec-monsanto-idUSKCN0VI1Y1

[ViseGrip]

1. Hillary his hired one of their top lobbyist for her campaign. The Monsanto

speech, is one of the speeches I want to hear!

Little that was leaked too, and it's not good.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Monsanto Paying $80 Million Penalty for Accounting Violations

Press Release

Monsanto Paying $80 Million Penalty for Accounting Violations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2016-25

Washington D.C., Feb. 9, 2016 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that St. Louis-based agribusiness Monsanto Company agreed to pay an $80 million penalty and retain an independent compliance consultant to settle charges that it violated accounting rules and misstated company earnings as it pertained to its flagship product Roundup. Three accounting and sales executives also agreed to pay penalties to settle charges against them.

An SEC investigation found that Monsanto had insufficient internal accounting controls to properly account for millions of dollars in rebates offered to retailers and distributers of Roundup after generic competition had undercut Monsanto’s prices and resulted in a significant loss of market share for the company. Monsanto booked substantial amounts of revenue resulting from sales incentivized by the rebate programs, but failed to recognize all of the related program costs at the same time. Therefore, Monsanto materially misstated its consolidated earnings in corporate filings during a three-year period.

“Financial reporting and disclosure cases continue to be a high priority for the Commission and these charges show that corporations must be truthful in their earnings releases to investors and have sufficient internal accounting controls in place to prevent misleading statements,” said SEC Chair Mary Jo White. “This type of conduct, which fails to recognize expenses associated with rebates for a flagship product in the period in which they occurred, is the latest page from a well-worn playbook of accounting misstatements.”

Andrew J. Ceresney, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, added, “Improper revenue and expense recognition practices that obscure a company's true financial results have long been a focus of the Commission. We are committed to vigorously pursuing and punishing corporate executives and other individuals whose actions contribute to the filing of inaccurate financial statements and other securities law violations.”

More:
http://www.sec.gov/news/pressrelease/2016-25.html

[Wilms]

3. .

They probably buy organic with the kind of $ they all make, er, get.

[Nailzberg]

4. Citation on the link between roundup ready crops and celiac?

I couldn't find any published research linking the two.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

5. That's because there is none.

Just a badly put together graphic that has fuck all to do with reality.

[Wilms]

6. Here.

Celiac disease, gluten intolerance and irritable bowel syndrome are on the rise worldwide, and that rise has taken place in parallel with the increased use of glyphosate (Roundup) herbicide, shows a new US peer-reviewed paper from Dr. Anthony Samsel and Dr. Stephanie Seneff. The review has been published in the Journal of Interdisciplinary Toxicology.

http://sustainablepulse.com/2014/02/19/roundup-linked-global-boom-celiac-disease-gluten-intolerance/http://sustainablepulse.com/2014/02/19/roundup-linked-global-boom-celiac-disease-gluten-intolerance/

Not that I am vouching for them. I think there are enough economic reasons to have issue with Monsanto, let alone environmental and medical.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

8. Correlation =/= Causation. nt

[Wilms]

10. Repeat:

Not that I am vouching for them. I think there are enough economic reasons to have issue with Monsanto, let alone environmental and medical.

[Nailzberg]

11. That's really the only one I did find, and its been throughly discredited by the science community.

Lots of problems with it just don't add up. The Journal for Interdisciplinary Toxicology is an obscure Slovak pay-for-play journal with a (unshockingly) low impact score and an apparent bias against man-made chemicals. It was a computer model analysis by a computer scientist.

Seneff is a great example though of how frustrating this can be to read into. Cause how does one find good information? Who does anyone trust? I can't trust March Against Monsanto any further than I can trust Monsanto.

I, too, have concerns with big businesses. Big business is business, and we gotta watch these guys at every turn. But Monsanto isn't really operating any differently than any other business. I find the attention to Monsanto and GMOs bizarre, as they are not exclusive to each other. Many of the oft-repeated arguments against Monsanto, or against GMOs, fall apart because they often are objections to procedures or processes that are not exclusive to GMOs or Monsanto. That kind of bad information stands in the way of progress.
Whether the information is coming from the CDC, Monsanto, the World Health Organization or the Food Babe, I'm questioning it, because I feel there is a lot of confirmation bias when I see my friends debate this topic.

Anyway, I think I eat a pretty balanced diet, as long as I can keep it under a couple diet cokes a week, I think every thing else will turn out okay.

[Wilms]

12. It's their business model.

How Monsanto Is Terrifying the Farming World

snip

After hearing that GM crops could potentially increase yields, three farmers in Schmeiser's region planted fields of Monsanto's seed. Winds pushed pollen from GM canola into Schmeiser's fields, and the plants cross-pollinated. The breed he had been cultivating for 50 years was now contaminated by Monsanto's GM canola.

Did Monsanto apologize? No. It sued Schmeiser for patent infringement — first charging the farmer per acre of contamination, then slapping him with another suit for $1 million and attempting to seize his land and farming equipment. After a seven-year battle, the Canadian Supreme Court eventually ruled against him but let him keep his farm and his $1 million. He was one of the lucky ones.

Schmeiser's case illustrates how Monsanto is dominating — and terrifying — the agricultural world with secretive technologies, strong-arm tactics, and government approval. According to the Center for Food Safety, Monsanto has filed at least 142 similar lawsuits against farmers for alleged infringement of its patents or abuse of its technology agreement. The company has won 72 judgments totaling almost $24 million.

snip

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/restaurants/how-monsanto-is-terrifying-the-farming-world-6392824

[Nailzberg]

15. Canadian courts didn't buy the cross-contamination defense.

Schmeiser had seeded about 1000 acres with roundup ready canola and sold off the rest of the seed. That's doesn't sound accidental to me. It seems like pretty solid case of patent infringement.

But now we're talking patents. And seed companies get patent for all kinds of crops, not just GMOs.

There's the ethical and moral question of whether a company should be able to patent a genetic trait that they've introduced into a crop or animal. I know humans have modified just about the entire food chain, but I don't know how I feel about someone claiming food as an invention.

Definitely some things to keep an eye on. I'd certainly like to see more regulators, and not just in this sector. I always feel like this country is one corporate fuckup away from total disaster.

[Dustlawyer]

7. But no one goes to jail, right?

[Tab]

9. That's all?

That's a pittance for Monsanto

[Ducksworthy]

13. So-Poisoning the Entire Planet, Kudos and Megabucks

Lying to investors, $80 million penalty. Glad we have our priorities straight.

[Doctor_J]

14. what's that, one mornings rake?

Probably not going to deter them