SEC Says AOL Certified Results

NEW YORK — The Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday that it accepted signed certifications by top executives at AOL Time Warner Inc. of the company’s 2001 and 2002 financial reports.

The agency’s action boosted shares of the media giant, which has acknowledged that its accounting practices are under investigation by the SEC and the Justice Department. AOL Time Warner’s stock rose 77 cents to $13.33 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The SEC uses an Internet site to keep a running tally of the certification status of the 947 major corporations, AOL Time Warner included, whose chief executives and chief financial officers are required to attest under oath to the accuracy and completeness of their companies’ 2001 and first-half 2002 financial statements.

The certification requirement was adopted this year in response to the accounting scandals that have spawned dozens of investigations and led to the bankruptcy filings of firms such as Enron Corp. and WorldCom Inc.

On its Web site, the SEC indicated that its inspectors had verified that the company’s certification documents had been received and were in the proper format, spokeswoman Christi Harlan said.

The documents were submitted on the Aug. 14 deadline.

On the same day, AOL Time Warner disclosed that an internal investigation had disclosed that three transactions totaling $49 million may have been improperly booked as “advertising and commerce revenue” within its America Online unit.

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that SEC and Justice Department lawyers were probing “dozens” of America Online transactions, some of which may have involved “round-tripping,” an illegal practice used to artificially boost reported revenue.

AOL Time Warner executives did not return calls for comment Monday.