Symantec Audit Committee Ends Probe, Restatement Not Anticipated

Symantec Corp. earlier announced that the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors has concluded its internal investigation, which was originally announced in May 2018. The Audit Committee, assisted by independent legal counsel and a forensic accounting firm, conducted a thorough investigation of the allegations raised by a former employee. The company does not anticipate a restatement or adjustment of any audited or unaudited, filed or previously announced, GAAP or non-GAAP financial statements. No employment actions with respect to any Section 16 officer have been recommended as a result of the investigation.

The Audit Committee noted relatively weak and informal processes with respect to some aspects of the review, approval and tracking of transition and transformation expenses. The Audit Committee also observed that beginning in the second quarter of fiscal year 2018, the company initiated a review by an outside accounting firm of, and took other steps to enhance, the company’s policies and procedures regarding non-GAAP measures. In addition to the matters announced in May 2018, the Audit Committee reviewed a transaction with a customer for which $13 million was recognized as revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2018. After subsequent review of the transaction, the Company has concluded that $12 million of the $13 million should be deferred. Accordingly, the previously announced financial results for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2018 and the first quarter of fiscal year 2019 will be revised to take into account this deferral and any other financial adjustments required as a result of this revision. The Audit Committee also reviewed certain allegations concerning, and identified certain behavior inconsistent with, the company’s Code of Conduct and related policies.

The Audit Committee referred these matters to the company for, and the Company intends to take, appropriate action. The Audit Committee proposed certain recommendations which the Board of Directors has adopted, including: appointing a separate Chief Accounting Officer; appointing a separate Chief Compliance Officer reporting to the Audit Committee; clarifying and enhancing the Code of Conduct and related policies; and adopting certain enhanced controls and policies related to the matters investigated. As previously disclosed, due to the internal investigation the Company has not filed its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 30, 2018 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the first fiscal quarter ended June 29, 2018 with the SEC. The company is working diligently to complete the preparation of the Form 10-K and the Q1 Form 10-Q and to facilitate the audit of the fiscal year 2018 financial statements and the review of the Q1 quarterly financial statements by its outside auditors. Shares of Symantec are up 3.6% in pre-market trading.