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Non-Tech : Cendant Corporation (NYSE:CD) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Roy F who wrote (1116)	7/17/1998 1:57:00 PM
From: LoLoLoLita	Respond to of 3627

I don't think this was posted here. Notice the mention of internet message boards. ----------------- Cendant chairman Forbes under pressure Reuters Story. Friday, July 17, 1998 12:16 AM NEW YORK, July 16 (Reuters) - Cendant Corp. chairman Walter Forbes came under renewed pressure Thursday to resign following revelations of accounting fraud at its CUC International business. Meanwhile, the stock extended its losses on growing concern the company is divided with the directors evenly split in their support for Forbes and Cendant chief executive Henry Silverman. "It seems increasingly clear that it's a house divided," Cantor Fitzgerald chief market analyst Bill Meehan, who said he holds a small stake in Cendant. "It seems the board is no longer acting in the interest of the shareholders." The board of Cendant, which was formed late last year from the merger of CUC International and HFS Inc., consists of 28 directors, who are reportedly split down the line between Forbes and Silverman. In addition, to remove either Forbes or Silverman would require approval of 80 percent of the board. The controversy comes after Cendant, which announced it had uncovered potential accounting irregularities in April, earlier this week alleged that the potential fraud at its CUC group was even worse than originally thought. Cendant alleged that the fraud included artificially boosting operating results at CUC business units by recording fictitious revenues. In April, Cendant fired the former chief financial officer at CUC after the company uncovered possible accounting fraud and a little over a week after it announced his resignation. But that may not be enough after the latest revelation, sources said. Internet message boards have been swamped with postings calling for Forbes, who had been chairman of CUC, to step down. Forbes is scheduled to switch jobs with Silverman in 2000 as part of the merger agreement. Forbes declined to be interviewed, but through a spokeswoman said he did not plan to step down and that Cendant's succession plan remains in place. Silverman, former chairman of HFS, in a conference call on Tuesday said that executive succession is a matter for the company's directors to address and declined to comment specifically. Forbes told investors on the call that he had no knowledge of the accounting irregularities before they were uncovered earlier this year. "What I'd like to see is that someone who claims to know very little about anything that has gone on in the past remove himself from the picture," Meehan said. "Talk about a Year 2000 problem. There's a Y2K problem the programmers won't be able to fix." Others agreed. "As far as I'm concerned the company is a rudderless ship," one merger specialist said. "Shareholders don't want to be passengers and it's taking on water fast." He said investors have lost confidence in former executives from CUC and said he believed Forbes should "fall on his sword and step down immediately." Arthur Andersen is expected to provide a report to the audit committee of the board of directors in early August. Cendant also said it continues to cooperate with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the United States Attorney's office in Newark in their investigations of these matters. Quote for referenced ticker symbols: CD c 1998, Reuters