Apple Computer, Inc. says that an internal investigation has discovered irregularities related to the issuance of stock option grants made between 1997 and 2001.

The company says one of the grants in question was to chief executive officer Steve Jobs, but the company says that the grant was subsequently cancelled and resulted in no financial gain to Jobs.

A special committee of Apple's outside directors has hired independent counsel to perform an investigation, and the company has informed the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

"Apple is a quality company, and we are proactively and transparently disclosing what we have discovered to the SEC," says Apple CEO Steve Jobs. "We are focused on resolving these issues as quickly as possible."

Apple also announced that two lawsuits have been filed against the company over its stock-option practices.

In recent weeks, several companies have disclosed that they have launched internal probes or have been contacted by prosecutors and regulators seeking information about whether the dates of stock-option grants were changed to make them more lucrative to recipients.