French media giant Vivendi Universalsaid last night the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had launcheda formal investigation into its accounting practices. "Vivendi Universal was advised today by the United StatesSecurities and Exchange Commission that its informal inquiry has nowbecome a formal investigation," the group said in a statement.
"Vivendi Universal intends to cooperate fully with the formalinvestigation," it said.
The investigation would be conducted in conjunction with anexisting federal probe by the Office of the United States Attorneyfor the Southern District of New York, it said.
In Washington, the SEC declined to comment.
The embattled Vivendi group announced on November 4th that it was under preliminary criminal investigation by US federal authorities in New York and that it was the subject of an informal inquiry by the SEC in Miami.
Last month, the Paris prosecutor opened an investigation intothe way Vivendi Universal's accounts were presented by the formerboard headed by former chairman Mr Jean-Marie Messier.
In July, shortly after Mr Messier resigned, shareholders filed aclass-action suit against the company in New York alleging thatVivendi Universal had masked the gravity of its liquidity problems.
In the same month, the French stock exchange regulator Comissiondes Operations de Bourse (COB) launched an investigation, which isstill under way, of Vivendi Universal's financial accounts sinceJanuary 2001.
AFP