TV Azteca delists

TV Azteca, Mexico’s second largest broadcaster, announced Tuesday that it plans to delist from the New York Stock Exchange.

This move comes as the network and its chairman Ricardo Salinas Pliego, are fighting securities fraud allegations in both the United States and Mexico.

TV Azteca blamed the delisting on the high costs of complying with the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation requiring that foreign as well as U.S. companies listed on the stock exchange show that they have internal controls in place that will guard against accounting fraud.

Two other companies controlled by Salinas Pliego, one of the Mexico’s largest electronics retailer, will hold shareholders’ meetings to vote on delisting those companies as well.

TV Azteca called Sarbanes-Oxley “excessive regulation” brought on by recent scandals such as those at Enron and Adelphia.

However, some analysts feel that Sarbanes-Oxley is not the real issue for TV Azteca and other Mexican companies that have recently delisted, as Mexican securities laws are moving in the direction of U.S. law in the area of disclosure.

The announcement by TV Azteca caused its shares to fall 7 percent in early trading on Tuesday.

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