Prosecutor pursues backdating violators.

(From AFX Europe (Focus))

NEW YORK (AFX) - The federal prosecutor overseeing Silicon Valley said Thursday the way a company responds to stock option backdating allegations is crucial to whether or not it will be indicted.

Kevin Ryan, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California, in July created a task force to pursue criminal charges related to stock option backdating. The group includes investigators from the U.S. attorney's office, the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

"How a corporation chooses to react is crucial to whether the corporation is indicted or not," Ryan told a securities litigation …