Original sentence: In 1992 the SEC imposed a rule requiring companies to report executive stock options in detail.Options backdating is the practice of granting an employee stock option that is dated prior to the date that the company actually granted the option.This practice raises a number of legal and accounting issues; it may or may not be unlawful depending on the circumstances
Edited sentence: Abuses reported in the media recently include cases like those of Steve Jobs with Pixar when executives would look back over several months and chose the date on which they wanted the right to buy shares of the company they were being paid to manage; and they chose the date when the price was lowest.If not for that rule, executives could still be hiding backdating options from shareholders.In 1992 the SEC had imposed a rule requiring companies to report executive stock options in detail.Options backdating is the process of granting an employee stock option that is dated prior to the date that the company granted that option.Some backdating situations are less manipulative and intentional, such as company granting stock options at exercise price equal to the company's lowest stock price during the prior month to smooth out volatility in its stock price, or just a delay between when the grant is approved and when it is communicated to employees and priced.This practice reduces the risk of share price going down for the year.This results in a value of the option most favorable to the employee receiving it.When done intentionally, the practice is equivalent to giving cash to the grantee at the expense of shareholders.Whether it is illegal will depend on the particular facts and circumstances because you can steal directly or through obfuscation