Atmel Regains Nasdaq Compliance

Staff Reporter -- Electronic News, 8/29/2006

Beleaguered Atmel Corp. has received a rare bit of good news: The company been notified by Nasdaq that, as a result of the resignation of George Perlegos from the company's board of directors, the company has regained compliance with the stock exchange.

Previously, on August 22, Nasdaq notified Atmel that it did not comply with its marketplace rule 4350, which requires that a majority of its directors be independent, due to the appointment of a director as president and CEO.

Perlegos' resignation did not occur quietly and resulted in an angry letter from the former executive to the company’s board. Perlegos had been asked to step down from the company's board and his position as chair after being fired from Atmel's president and CEO posts for allegedly misusing company travel funds.

Atmel also announced that the Nasdaq has set a date of September 26 in response to the company's request for a hearing before the listing qualifications panel regarding the company's late filing of its Q2 Form 10-Q due to stock options-related holdups. Shares of Atmel common stock will continue trading on the Nasdaq pending the panel's decision, which may take up to several weeks to be determined.

Atmel is only one of a slew of tech companies currently troubled by the industry’s stock option-related investigations. For more, click here.