ECONOMICS REPORT - Halliburton's Legal Troubles

ECONOMICS REPORT - Halliburton's Legal Troubles
By Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Friday, August 13, 2004

This is Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Investors¹ in a company have some control over how it operates. Shareholders³ can vote on some issues. They can also go to court if they believe their interests are being harmed.

Last week, investors brought legal action against the energy services company Halliburton. The investors accuse four former or current top officers of misleading them.

The latest legal action says that Halliburton lost a legal case in Texas in September, two thousand one. A court ordered the company to pay one hundred thirty million dollars. The decision was kept secret. At the time, Halliburton told investors that the case had gone well. But three months later, the company's stock price dropped forty-two percent on the day that news of the judgement became public.

Four former Halliburton employees also told legal investigators⁵ that the company did not keep honest records of its sales and costs from nineteen ninety eight to two thousand one. They said the company claimed to collect more money than it received. They said workers were expected to change records to make the company appear more profitable. The charges cover two years when Vice⁴ President Dick Cheney was its chief executive officer. He was not named in the case.

In a statement, Halliburton said the latest legal action is an attempt to turn public opinion against the company. Halliburton said a federal court in Dallas, Texas, approved a settlement of twenty similar cases on June seventh. The company agreed to pay six million dollars. Halliburton said the court ordered that no more shareholder² cases be brought against the company.

On August third, Halliburton reached a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The S.E.C. said the company had secretly changed its method of financial record-keeping in nineteen ninety-eight and nineteen ninety-nine. The new method made Halliburton's earnings⁶ appear almost fifty percent higher. Halliburton paid seven million five hundred thousand dollars without admitting any wrongdoing.

Halliburton faces other problems. The Justice Department is investigating Halliburton's projects in the Balkans and in Nigeria.

Halliburton is based in Houston, Texas. It is the world's second largest oil services company. The largest is Schlumberger Limited.

This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by Mario Ritter. This is Gwen Outen.

1 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

2 shareholder   

n.股东，股票持有人

参考例句：

• The account department have prepare a financial statement for the shareholder.财务部为股东准备了一份财务报表。
• A shareholder may transfer his shares in accordance with the law.股东持有的股份可以依法转让。

3 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

4 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

5 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。