KB Home Discloses New SEC Investigation

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KB Home said in a regulatory filing that the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating it for possible accounting and disclosure violations.

The Los Angeles homebuilder said late Friday that the SEC notified it on October 2 that a formal order of investigation had been launched regarding “possible accounting and disclosure issues.”

The company said it is cooperating with the investigation and that it did not believe liabilities or costs from the probe would have a material effect on its financial position or operations.

There were no additional details in the filing. It did not indicate if the new investigation is related to a 2006 stock option backdating scandal that led to the resignation of KB Home’s then-chief executive, Bruce Karatz, and other executives.

The company determined after an internal investigation that Karatz benefitted from favorably dated option awards. He paid nearly $7.2 million to settle SEC charges last year, and this spring pleaded not guilty in federal court in Los Angeles to charges related to the case.

KB Home spokeswoman Heather Reeves told the Associated Press Monday that “while the SEC has not specified the subject matter, and we cannot speculate on it at this time, we understand that part of the SEC’s mandate is to conduct these sorts of investigations, which it has done with hundreds of public companies over the past few years.”

KB Home shares were down $1.01, or 6 percent, to $15.45 in midday trading Monday on the New York Stock Exchange.

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