WorldCom checks for new trouble

WORLDCOM, the US telecoms group, has told US regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission that it was reviewing financial records for the past three years for possible accounting problems similar to the almost $4bn (£2.7bn) fraud for the past five quarters it disclosed last week.

Investors dumped WorldCom shares, driving them down to six cents from 83 cents at the last close last Tuesday. The shares could be delisted from Nasdaq as soon as Friday. SEC chairman Harvey Pitt said: 'Criminal charges may be too good for the people who brought about this mess.'

The US government is investigating former chief executive Bernard Ebbers among others. The SEC is demanding chief executives of all major US companies personally swear their financial statements are true while President George Bush has ordered the Justice Department to 'hold people accountable' for corporate malfeasance through criminal prosecution.