The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is reviewing a complaint that accuses Aflac Inc. of engaging in income smoothing, a practice in which a company shifts sales between reporting periods to meet earnings projections, Bloomberg News reported, citing sources.
The whistleblowers also allege that the company converted individual accounts into group policies and that it inflated a performance metric in regulatory filings.
Aflac U.S. President Teresa White told the news outlet that these allegations were made public several months ago and that an independent external counsel found them to be without merit and immaterial. The company has not yet received a request for information from the SEC, White said.
