Nationwide bookseller Barnes & Noble Inc., operator of book stores under the Barnes & Noble and B. Dalton brands, has received a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York requesting documents on its practice of awarding stock options.The company said that it intends to cooperate fully with the probe.
Thus far, more than 100 companies are currently under investigation by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission in an effort to determine whether the options granted to their executives had been "back-dated" in an effort to boost their values.
The company operates about 800 retail outlets.
