January 19, 2017
Seattle-based financial services company HoneStreet Inc. will pay a $500,000 penalty to settle charges that it conducted improper hedge accounting and later took steps to impede potential whistleblowers. HomeStreet’s treasurer Darrell van Amen will pay a $20,000 penalty to settle charges that he caused the accounting violations. According to the SEC’s order, HomeStreet originated approximately 20 fixed rate commercial loans and entered into interest rate swaps to hedge the exposure. The company elected to designate the loans and the swaps in fair value hedging relationships, which can reduce income statement volatility that might exist absent hedge accounting treatment. Companies are required to periodically assess the hedging relationship and must discontinue the use of hedge accounting if the effectiveness ration falls outside a certain range. The SEC’s order finds that in certain instances from 2011 to 2014, van Armen saw to it that unsupported adjustments were made in HomeStreet’s hedge effectiveness testing to ensure the company could continue using the favorable accounting treatment. The test results, based on altered inputs, were provided to HomeStreet’s accounting department, resulting in inaccurate accounting entries. The SEC’s order further found that after HomeStreet employees reported concerns about accounting errors to management, the company concluded the adjustments to its hedge effectiveness tests were incorrect. When the SEC contacted the company in April 2015 seeking documents related to hedge accounting, HomeStreet presumed it was in response to a whistleblower complaint and began taking actions to determine the identity of the “whistleblower.” It was suggested to one individual considered to be a whistleblower that the terms of an indemnification agreement could allow HomeStreet to deny payment for legal costs during the SEC’s investigation. HomeStreet also required former employees to sign severance agreements waiving potential whistleblower awards or risk losing their severance payments. SEC
Tagged in: Accounting Fraud, Financial and Investment Fraud,