SEC investigates Schnitzer Steel
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has opened a formal investigation into commissions that Schnitzer Steel paid to customer purchasing managers at the companys ferrous metals recycling business in Asia. Schnitzer admits these commissions were improper and says the company announced late last year its own investigation of this practice. The company says it instructed its outside law firm to provide the SEC and US Justice Department with information obtained in the investigation. Schnitzer will continue to cooperate fully with those agencies. The company also replaced the head of its Asian scrap sales and trading operations last month, as well as the companys president and CEO last May. The new CEO is former Bechtel executive John Carter, who Schnitzer applauded for his international, legal, and ethical expertise. Schnitzers ferrous metals business generates about 35 percent of its overall revenue. Schnitzer reported sales of $226.6 million last quarter, and is a leading US recycler of iron-based metals, processing about 5.4 million tons a year.