Gemstar-TV Guide Names Finance Chief

Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc. said it named Brian D. Urban chief financial officer.

Urban succeeds Paul Haggerty, who has been the company’s acting chief financial officer since November, when Elsie Leung resigned as CFO. The company is the subject of a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into its accounting practices.

Last week, a federal judge ordered Gemstar to continue to withhold $37.6 million in severance payments to Leung and former Chief Executive Henry Yuen.

Urban will join the company on July 1, and will be based in Los Angeles. Urban previously held various senior financial roles at Unilab Corp., where he was most recently executive vice president, CFO and treasurer.

Shares of Gemstar-TV Guide closed down 17 cents, or 4%, at $4.13 on Nasdaq.

From Dow Jones/Associated Press