The main US financial regulator has failed to target companies incorporated in Bermuda in a crackdown on corrupt financial practices, the Financial Times reported last week.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sent letters last week to the 945 largest companies by annual revenue, ordering chief executives and chief financial officers to vouch for their companies' accounts. But the letters were not sent to Bermuda-registered companies, according to the FT's report, even though many fall under the SEC's jurisdiction because their shares are traded on US exchanges and they file reports with the regulator.

"The whole purpose was to shore up investor confidence as quickly as possible," the regulator told the FT. "We simply identified the largest US companies and acted with record speed." The commission wants senior executives to be ultimately liable for the accuracy of their companies' reporting, and the SEC's chairman, Harvey Pitt, threatened them with jail time if their accounts turned out to be fraudulent.

The list of US corporate scandals is growing, and includes two Bermuda-based companies, the conglomerate Tyco and Global Crossing, the telecommunications carrier.