Washington, D.C., Oct. 13, 2004—The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the filing of enforcement actions alleging fraud and other violations against Royal Ahold (Koninklijke Ahold N.V.) (Ahold) and three former top executives: Cees van der Hoeven, former CEO and chairman of executive board; A. Michiel Meurs, former CFO and executive board member; and Jan Andreae, former executive vice president and executive board member. The Commission also charged Roland Fahlin, former member of Ahold’s supervisory board and audit committee, with causing violations of the reporting, books and records, and internal controls provisions of the securities laws.

Required
a. Why can the SEC charge a company in The Netherlands with U.S. security violations?
b. Why is The Netherlands conducting a parallel criminal investigation?
c. Speculate on how many countries may be running a parallel criminal investigation relating to securities sold.