FT社评：Autonomy丑闻应有更多人负责_时事

FT社评：Autonomy丑闻应有更多人负责

The US group has referred the allegations to the Securities and Exchange Commission and to the Serious Fraud Office in the UK. It is also seeking compensation. The investigations should uncover whether blame can be attached to Mr Lynch and his colleagues. They might also usefully look at the role played by Deloitte, Autonomy’s auditors. If the allegations are correct, they stand accused of slumbering at the spreadsheet.

惠普已向美国证交会(SEC)和英国严重欺诈办公室(SFO)提交了指控。同时，惠普也在寻求得到补偿。调查应会弄明白，林奇及其同事是否应当承担责任。他们也应当认真考察Autonomy的审计机构德勤(Deloitte)在其中扮演了何种角色。如果指控属实，德勤可能被控对Autonomy报表的审查不够严格。

The majority of mergers and acquisitions fail to add value. Valuing software companies is an art, not a science, and buying growth is a chancy business. HP may have been reckless but at least Mr Apotheker – if not his fellow directors – has paid the price.

多数并购案都没能给企业增加价值。如何给软件公司估值是艺术而非科学，而且通过收购实现增长是有风险的。惠普可能当初不够谨慎，但起码李艾科（如果不是他的董事会同仁的话）已经为此付出了代价。

More worrying is the fact that Autonomy was not a start-up but a longstanding member of the FTSE?100 index. The sort of scrutiny it faced ought to have precluded the irregularities of which it is now accused. If these checks failed, that is the real scandal.