SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Release No. 49705 / May 14, 2004

ACCOUNTING AND AUDITING ENFORCEMENT
Release No. 2015 / May 14, 2004

ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDING
File No. 3-11490


In the Matter of

COSMO CORIGLIANO, CPA,

Respondent.


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ORDER INSTITUTING ADMINISTRATIVE
PROCEEDINGS PURSUANT TO RULE
102(e) OF THE COMMISSION'S RULES OF
PRACTICE, MAKING FINDINGS, AND
IMPOSING REMEDIAL SANCTIONS

I.

The Securities and Exchange Commission ("Commission") deems it appropriate and in the public interest that public administrative proceedings be, and hereby are, instituted against Cosmo Corigliano ("Respondent" or "Corigliano") pursuant to Rule 102(e)(3)(i) of the Commission's Rules of Practice.1

II.

In anticipation of the institution of these proceedings, Respondent has submitted an Offer of Settlement (the "Offer") which the Commission has determined to accept. Solely for the purpose of these proceedings and any other proceedings brought by or on behalf of the Commission, or to which the Commission is a party, and without admitting or denying the findings herein, except as to the Commission's jurisdiction over him and the subject matter of these proceedings, and the findings contained in Section III.4. below, which are admitted, Respondent consents to the entry of this Order Instituting Administrative Proceedings Pursuant to Rule 102(e) of the Commission's Rules of Practice, Making Findings, and Imposing Remedial Sanctions ("Order"), as set forth below.

III.

On the basis of this Order and Respondent's Offer, the Commission finds that:

1. Corigliano, age 44, is and has been a certified public accountant licensed to practice in the State of Connecticut. He served as Controller of CUC International Inc. ("CUC") from 1983 to 1995 and as its Chief Financial Officer from 1995 until the December 1997 merger of CUC and HFS Incorporated ("HFS"), which formed Cendant Corporation ("Cendant"). After the merger, he was an officer of Cendant Membership Services, the post-merger name for the former CUC business units, until his resignation from Cendant in April 1998.

2. CUC was a Delaware corporation with its principal offices in Stamford, Connecticut. CUC was principally engaged in membership-based consumer services, such as auto, dining, shopping, and travel "clubs." Its securities were registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act") and traded on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE").

3. Cendant is a Delaware corporation with its principal offices in New York City. Cendant was created through the December 17, 1997, merger of HFS and CUC. Pursuant to the Agreement and Plan of Merger between CUC and HFS, HFS was merged with and into CUC, with CUC continuing as the surviving corporation and changing its name to Cendant Corporation. Cendant provides membership-based and Internet-related consumer services and owns the rights to franchise brand names in the hotel, residential real estate brokerage, car rental, and tax preparation businesses. Cendant's common stock and certain other securities issued by Cendant are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act and trade on the NYSE. Certain additional securities issued by Cendant are registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Exchange Act.

4. On May 7, 2004, a final judgment was entered against Corigliano, permanently enjoining him from future violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Sections 10(b) and 13(b)(5) of the Exchange Act, and Exchange Act Rules 10b 5, 13b2 1, and 13b2 2, and aiding and abetting violations of Sections 13(a), 13(b)(2)(A), 13(b)(2)(B), and 14(a) of the Exchange Act, and Exchange Act Rules 12b 20, 13a 1, 13a 13, and 14a 9, in the civil action entitled Securities and Exchange Commission v. Cosmo Corigliano, et al., Civil Action Number 00 Civ. No. 2873, in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.

5. The Commission's complaint alleged, among other things, that Corigliano, as Controller of CUC, assisted senior CUC officers who initiated a long-running financial reporting fraud and, later, as CUC's Chief Financial Officer, proceeded to orchestrate and refine the fraud. The complaint further alleges that, as Chief Financial Officer, Corigliano was the CUC officer responsible for creating and maintaining a schedule that CUC officers used to track their fraudulent scheme during the course of each fiscal year. He was responsible for keeping more senior CUC officers apprised about the progress of the scheme. While Chief Financial Officer, Corigliano directed CUC mid-level financial reporting managers to make unsupported quarterly top-side adjustments to CUC's earnings as reported in its quarterly Reports on Form 10 Q filed with the Commission. He also instructed less senior CUC managers to make unsupported journal entries effectuating year-end adjustments that improperly inflated CUC's operating income and earnings as reported in its annual Reports on Form 10 K as filed with the Commission. The complaint further alleges that, while engaged in these activities, Corigliano signed CUC's periodic reports filed with the Commission and made materially false statements to CUC's auditors.

IV.

In view of the foregoing, the Commission deems it appropriate and in the public interest to impose the sanction agreed to in Respondent Corigliano's Offer.

Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED, effective immediately, that:

Corigliano is suspended from appearing or practicing before the Commission as an accountant.

By the Commission.

Jonathan G. Katz
Secretary

Endnotes

The Commission, with due regard to the public interest and without preliminary hearing, may, by order, . . . suspend from appearing or practicing before it any . . . accountant . . . who has been by name . . . [p]ermanently enjoined by any court of competent jurisdiction, by reason of his or her misconduct in an action brought by the Commission, from violating or aiding and abetting the violation of any provision of the Federal securities laws or of the rules and regulations thereunder.