Standard&Poor's said today that there would be no impact on Kimberly-Clark Corp.'s (AA/Stable/A-1+) ratings or outlook following the announcement by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it has settled administrative proceedings against Kimberly-Clark for reporting violations. The settlement relates to Kimberly-Clark's $1.44 billion restructuring charge taken in 1995 because of the company's merger with Scott Paper Co. The SEC claimed that Kimberly-Clark violated reporting rules through the overstatement of the charge by $354 million, which resulted in inaccurate financial statements filed by the company with the SEC from 1995 to the first quarter of 1999. Kimberly-Clark cooperated with the SEC findings in 1999 and restated its financial statements at that time for the periods involved. The restatement
