CFO Leaves as Ixia Investigation Ends

Ixia said late Tuesday that it had completed an internal investigation of its accounting practices. While the company’s top officers were not found to have engaged in widespread fraud, its chief financial officer has resigned.

The report sets the stage for the Calabasas maker of computer networking software to strengthen its financial reporting controls and regain Nasdaq compliance.

Ixia in October was rocked by the resignation of Chief Executive Vic Alston after it was discovered he had falsified his resume. The company delayed its third quarter financial report while the board sorted out the controversy. Its audit committee found that while Alston had misstated his academic credentials and employment history, he had not lied about the company’s financial results in the past.

Chief Financial Officer Tom Miller, who resigned Monday, was found to have not engaged in intentional misconduct. Even so, it was determined that lack of leadership and insufficient controls combined to produce errors in the company’s revenue results, the investigation found.

Financial statements for late 2012 and early 2013 were affected. The committee expects any restatements of revenue for the affected quarters would cause a change of no more than 3 percent.

In a statement released after the Tuesday markets closed, Ixia said it hopes to be able to file its financial statements before a March 18 regulatory deadline.

“There can be no assurance, however, that the Form 10-K and the audit of the company’s financial statements to be included therein will be completed by that date," Ixia said in a statement.

Shares closed Wednesday up $1.45 or 11 percent to $14.53 on the Nasdaq.

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