• Bloomberg News, Wednesday, January 21, 2009 11:15 AM

Bloomberg reports that the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Apple's disclosures about CEO Steve Jobs' health in order to assess whether or not investors were purposefully misled. The fact that the SEC is reviewing the matter doesn't mean that regulators have seen evidence of wrongdoing, Bloomberg's source said. Last week, the news organization reported that Jobs is considering a liver transplant as a result of complications after his treatment for pancreatic cancer.

Since Jobs appeared noticeably thinner at an Apple event in June, investors have been pressing for information related to the his health. After saying he would remain CEO while seeking a "relatively simple" treatment for a nutritional ailment, nine days later Jobs announced that he would be taking a five-month medical leave of absence after learning that his health issues were "more complex."

"The good news flipped by the bad news makes one wonder what Apple knew," said James Cox, a law professor at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. "It's not surprising for the SEC to come in and look afterward, given the pressure and publicity regarding their handling of a lot of cases," he added, alluding to the criticism of the SEC's response to Bernard Madoff's alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme.

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