Senior care giant Sunrise Senior Living has become the target of a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into possible insider stock sales, stock-option grant issues and accounting problems. As of the end of the first quarter of 2007, Sunrise operated 444 senior living communities in the U.S., Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom, as well as having 42 others under construction. The SEC inquiry was prompted in part by a letter from the SEIU Master Trust, the national pension fund for the Service Employees International Union and a Sunrise shareholder. The SEIU is asking that Sunrise remove its outside directors, arguing that the existing directors aren't independent enough to fix the company's governance problems. It would also like to see Sunrise restructure its existing board to diffuse voting power more effectively.
To find out more about the investigation:
- read this Modern Healthcare article (sub. req.)