News

Atmel Announces Resolution of Stock Option Backdating Litigation

June 07, 2010 by Jeff Shepard

Atmel Corp. announced the settlement of the remaining claims in long-running derivative litigation involving stock option backdating. The company had previously settled claims against a number of present and former employees, officers and directors.

The settlement resolves claims asserted against the sole remaining defendant, the company’s former general counsel. The settlement, which is subject to approval by the court, provides for a payment to Atmel by the company’s insurers and for the dismissal of all remaining claims, resulting in a complete termination of the derivative litigation.

"We are pleased to have successfully resolved the remaining claims and to have put this derivative litigation behind us," said Steven Laub, Atmel’s President and Chief Executive Officer.

Laub also noted that since July 2006 – when Atmel’s Audit Committee commenced an eight-month investigation of the company’s historical stock option granting practices – the company had implemented a number of corporate governance changes in order to strengthen its stock option administration and governance functions.