Finally some good news for KB Home.

The homebuilder said the Securities and Exchange Commission has concluded its investigation into the company's accounting and disclosures and does not plan to recommend any enforcement action. The letter from the regulator concludes the SEC's investigation, which began in October 2009.

More problems for Dell.

The Securities and Exchange Commission settled civil charges with two former Dell finance executives for their role in the company's alleged accounting fraud.

Former chief accounting officer Robert Davis agreed to pay a penalty of $175,000, disgorgement of $19,080, and prejudgment interest of $9,078. He also agreed to a five-year suspension from appearing or practicing before the SEC as an accountant.

The SEC is clearly not letting up with its crusade against bribery.

The regulator has brought three fresh bribery cases in the past two days, including another one stemming from the UN’s oil for food program in Iraq, which is fast-appearing to be one of the greatest get-rich schemes in corrupt third world country (sorry for the redundancy) history.

For the second time in two days, the Securities and Exchange Commission settled charges stemming from the sub-prime mortgage crisis.

The regulator Friday said three former officers of New Century Financial-one of the poster children of risky mortgage lending-settled charges that certain SEC filings contained false and misleading statements regarding its subprime mortgage business.  The three individuals--Brad A. Morrice, the former CEO and co-founder; Patti M. Dodge, the former CFO; and David N. Kenneally, the former controller--agreed to pay out more than $1.3 million in disgorgement and penalties while agreeing to the terms of the settlement without admitting or denying the allegations in the Commission's Complaint.

The SEC alleged that New Century's second and third quarter 2006 reports and two late 2006 private stock offerings contained false and misleading statements regarding its subprime mortgage business. The complaint also claims that Morrice and Dodge knew about certain negative trends in New Century's loan portfolio from reports they received and that they participated in the disclosure process, but they did not take adequate steps to ensure that the negative trends were properly disclosed.

General Electric agreed to pay more than $23.4 million to settle bribery charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission stemming from the UN Oil for Food Program in Iraq at the beginning of the millennium.

The SEC had filed Foreign Corrupt Practices Act books and records and internal controls charges against GE and two of its subsidiaries-Ionics, Inc. (currently GE Ionics) and Amersham plc (currently GE Healthcare).

Score this one for the Securities and Exchange Commission and chairman Mary Schapiro.

In perhaps their biggest accomplishment since she took over the securities regulator over a year ago, Goldman, Sachs agreed to pay $550 million and reform certain business practices to settle SEC charges that Goldman misled investors in a subprime mortgage product just as the US housing market was starting to collapse.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking public comment on a wide number of issues related to the proxy system that could result in a number of rule revisions.

The 151-page concept focuses on accuracy, transparency, and efficiency of the voting process; communications and shareholder participation; and the relationship between voting power and economic interest.

As President Obama gears up to sign a sweeping financial regulatory bill, one little discussed but important potential provision that did not survive the final version would have provided for self-funding by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

This is a policy advocated by people like New York Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Barney Frank as well as SEC chairman Mary Schapiro. It would enable the agency to use some or all of the fees and/or fines it collects to pay its bills.

The former chief financial officer of what was once one of the nation's largest home mortgage lenders before it wound up filing for bankruptcy, agreed to settle accounting fraud charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission stemming from the sub-prime crisis.

Stephen Hozie, who served as an executive vice president and CFO of American Home Mortgage from March 2002 until June 2008, agreed to pay a $225,000 civil penalty and $1 of disgorgement and to a five-year suspension from appearing or practicing before the Commission as an accountant, according to an announcement Tuesday afternoon.

The Commission alleged, among other things, that Hozie fraudulently understated AHM's first quarter 2007 loan loss reserves by tens of millions of dollars, converting the company's loss into a fictional profit. The complaint also alleges that Hozie made misleading disclosures concerning the company's financial condition including misrepresenting the company's liquidity and failing to adequately disclose the riskiness of the mortgages American Home Mortgage originated and held.

The SEC's recent fraud case against Diebold should also serve as a warning to CFOs and other top executives of public companies about relying on internal memos to keep track of earnings progress, according to a recent client memo fired off by the law firm, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.

"Too often these reports can be used in hindsight to suggest earnings manipulation," the memo warns.