SEC Wraps Up Groupon Inquiry

The SEC has completed a review of filings by daily deals site Groupon (Nasdaq: GRPN  ) , the company announced last week. An Oct. 4 letter from the SEC posted on the SEC website says the agency has completed its review but this does not preclude it taking further action.

Investors can use the SEC's EDGAR database to look up the relevant documents, including an Aug. 2 letter from the SEC to Groupon, Groupon's Aug. 24 response to that (parts of which the SEC has redacted to maintain confidentiality), a Sept. 25 SEC letter to Groupon, and Groupon's Oct. 1 response to that.

One area the SEC wanted the company to explain more fully was Groupon's revenues from its new Goods business, in which Groupon sells merchandise directly. It's a departure from the company's main line of business, where the site sells coupons for goods and services to customers, as opposed to the actual goods and services themselves.

In response, Groupon has started to directly report revenues from its Goods business line.

Another area of inquiry in the investigation looked into the reason for Groupon amending its 2011 financial results after they were initially reported. The company claimed that the revision was due to underestimated customer refund levels during the year.