SEC Shuts Down Online Terror List

The SEC is taking down an online list used to expose companies that do business with countries affiliated with terrorism after critics charged that the Web tool made false accusations and wasn't up to date. "It was basically a word-search list," a US official tells the Wall Street Journal. "There was nothing the least bit sophisticated about it."

Users were able to click on the five "state sponsors of terrorism" and see a list of public companies engaging in business there, including information from their annual reports. Congressmen denounced the tool as more and more inaccurate information showed up on the list; for instance, Immtech Pharmaceuticals was listed for merely describing clinical trials in Sudan. (More counterterrorism stories.)