Good time to bury bad news?

Christmas – a time to spend time with loved ones, relax with plenty of food and drink and, if you’re a troubled fintech firm, slip out any embarrassing news whilst the rest of us are busy doing better things.

At least that’s the thought that, perhaps uncharitably, crossed my mind when press releases from payments processor ACI Worldwide and ATM manufacturer Diebold came out today.

Both have been in a bit of trouble, with ACI receiving a written staff determination notice from Nasdaq because it failed to file its annual Form 10-K for the year.

Meanwhile, Diebold has revealed that that the US Department of Justice has followed the SEC in investigating the vendor’s revenue recognition practices.

Not exactly earth shattering news but you can see why they might not want to shout it from the rooftops.