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Compliance Kitchen

UK Plastic Packaging Tax


UK’s new Plastic Packaging Tax set to begin soon.

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Enron: Trial of the Century

The Enron Trial Episode 4 – The Verdict Comes In

 
Loren Steffy and Tom Fox have another conversation as The Enron Trial series nears the end. In episode 4, Loren Steffy recalls the aftermath of the guilty verdict. 
 

 
The Verdict and Counts of Conviction 
Jeffrey Skilling was convicted of 19 counts, his sentence totaling 185 years, and Kenneth Lay was looking at 120 years in prison. Skilling was actually sentenced to 17 years, which was then reduced to 12. Kenneth Lay passed away prior to his sentencing, and so, the verdict was vacated. 
 
The Prosecution and Defence 
“The defense team was stunned,” said Loren, “I think that the attorneys, as well as the defendants, believed that they were going to get a not guilty verdict.” The prosecution, on the other hand, felt a great sense of relief and accomplishment; this was an uphill battle from a prosecution standpoint in many ways. Jeffrey Skilling appeared stoic; though there were stories that indicated he disagreed with the verdict, he seemed to have accepted his fate. 
 
The Jurors and The Judge 
Loren commends the jurors, believing they deserve a lot of credit for their involvement in the trial. “I think they did a really good job of listening to the arguments and considering them,” he said. What was interesting, to him, was their response to Andrew Fastow’s testimony, one that Loren found to be credible, “It was like that didn’t really factor into their decision nearly as much as we thought it would when we were watching all of it unfold.” According to him, the judge certainly understood the magnitude of the case, and tried to be very careful in his administration of the case to avoid mistakes that could have led to a mistrial, “Everyone really understood that this was a big trial, and they were playing on the big stage.”
 
RESOURCES
Loren Steffy | LinkedIn | Twitter 
 
 

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Everything Compliance

Episode 93, the Activision Blizzard Edition


Welcome to the only roundtable podcast in compliance. The entire gang was also thrilled to be honored by W3 as a top talk show in podcasting. In this episode, we have the quintet of Karen Woody, Jonathan Armstrong, Tom Fox, Matt Kelly and Jay Rosen. We discuss some of the key issues from the Activision Blizzard acquisition by Microsoft in the context of the BeeGees.  We also have a special tribute section to Meatloaf as well as Shout Outs and Rants.

1. Karen Woody used Staying Alive to look at the SEC angle on the acquisition. Karen shouts out to workers in the travel industry for getting travelers home during the holidays.  Woody paid tribute to Meatloaf’s acting career, the Rocky Horror movie and the song Hot Potootie Bless My Soul which her father still loves and is played annually at his birthday.

2. Jay Rosen reviewed To Love Somebody in asking what role can a monitor play in this matter? Rosen ranted about longtime Boston sportswriter Dan Shaughnessy who voted against David Ortiz for the HOF and shouted out to Big Papi’s response. Jay paid tribute to You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth, Meatloaf’s acting and SNL performances.

3. Matt Kelly considered Massachusetts to consider the anti-trust angles and whether Microsoft can turn the corruption culture at Activision around. Kelly laments the missing child Heather Montgomery and all the officials who did not take her mother’s report of her disappearance seriously.  Matt paid tribute to those listeners who are too young to remember Meatloaf.

4. Jonathan Armstrong used How Can You Mend a Broken Heart to look at EU and UK anti-trust issues as well as data privacy concerns under GDPR. Armstrong shouts out artist Tracy Emin for demanding No. 10 pull her artwork due to the corruption of BoJo. Jonathan paid tribute to Meatloaf’s financial support of Jonathan’s local football club Hartlepool United.

5. Tom Fox considered the role of the Microsoft Board of Directors in the acquisition. He shouted out to the Joel Coen movie Macbeth and started Oscar buzz by further shouting out to Kathryn Hunter for her portrayal of the 3 sisters.  Tom paid tribute to Paradise by the Dashboard Lights.

 The members of the Everything Compliance are:
•       Jay Rosen– Jay is Vice President, Business Development Corporate Monitoring at Affiliated Monitors. Rosen can be reached at JRosen@affiliatedmonitors.com
•       Karen Woody – One of the top academic experts on the SEC. Woody can be reached at kwoody@wlu.edu
•       Matt Kelly – Founder and CEO of Radical Compliance. Kelly can be reached at mkelly@radicalcompliance.com
•       Jonathan Armstrong –is our UK colleague, who is an experienced data privacy/data protection lawyer with Cordery in London. Armstrong can be reached at jonathan.armstrong@corderycompliance.com
•       Jonathan Marks is Partner, Firm Practice Leader – Global Forensic, Compliance & Integrity Services at Baker Tilly. Marks can be reached at jonathan.marks@bakertilly.com
The host and producer, ranter (and sometime panelist) of Everything Compliance is Tom Fox the Voice of Compliance. He can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com. Everything Compliance is a part of the Compliance Podcast Network.

Categories
Daily Compliance News

January 27, 2022 the Big Papi Edition


In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News:

  • Intel overturns $1.2 EU anti-trust fine. (WSJ)
  • PED users kept out of HOF (or not). (ESPN)
  • TI-CPI released. (Compliance Week)
  • J&J attempt to punish whistleblowers quashed. (Reuters)