IBM yesterday admitting that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating how the company accounted for a proportion of its revenue in 2000 and 2001.

In a statement (http://www-916.ibm.com/press/prnews.nsf/jan/7A43BDBD994ED36D85256D39007115C0), IBM said that it "believes that the investigation arises from a separate investigation by the SEC of a customer of IBM's Retail Store Solutions unit", which markets and sells point-of-sale products.

"The SEC specifically advised IBM that this is a fact-finding investigation and that it has not reached any conclusions related to this matter. IBM has been co-operating fully with the SEC and will continue to do so," the company added.

IBM share price fell (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,5-701568,00.html) following news of the inquiry. Although previous SEC probes (http://www.business-standard.com/updates/news.asp?story=4119) into IBM's books have come to nowt, the markets remain jittery as the Enron affair continues to cast its shadow over Wall Street. ®

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