OSC settlement over ten years of backdated options and misleading disclosure at RIM
Research In Motion Limited · Wireless technology
The case in brief
Visible before detection
Checks that could have surfaced it, on hindsight
Document authenticity / direct pull
Board minutes and approval records would not match the grant dates used.
Can mislead when: The company can refuse consent, and a refusal is itself a flag. Some banks and co-op banks are not on AA yet.
Governance signals
The audit and compensation committees did not review option grants as the plan required.
Can mislead when: Private companies file late, so these signals are lagging. Kubr uses them to support other flags, not to prove anything alone.
Books edit log
Grant records would show dates set after the fact.
Can mislead when: Logs can be disabled at database level (auditors qualified this in year one) or tampered with on export. Kubr needs the company to cooperate.
Regulatory & litigation records
The TSX rules would show the minimum pricing the grants breached.
Can mislead when: Court records lag and name spellings vary. A clean record can mean the problem has not reached court yet.
Where Kubr services would have helped
IC note
Offered in India- C5 Board minutes and approval records would not match the grant dates used.
- C8 The TSX rules would show the minimum pricing the grants breached.
- C11 The audit and compensation committees did not review option grants as the plan required.
Verified Snapshot
Offered in India- C8 The TSX rules would show the minimum pricing the grants breached.
- C11 The audit and compensation committees did not review option grants as the plan required.
Financial diligence
Offered in India- C5 Board minutes and approval records would not match the grant dates used.
- C12 Grant records would show dates set after the fact.
Legal diligence support
Offered in India- C8 The TSX rules would show the minimum pricing the grants breached.
- C11 The audit and compensation committees did not review option grants as the plan required.
Mapped from the checks each service runs. A hindsight reading of public records, not a promise that the failure would have been found.
Same pattern
A summary of public documents. It reports what the sources say. It is not Kubr's finding and not a statement of guilt.