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United States Court of Appeals for the DISTRICT of COLUMBIA CIRCUIT
United States Court of Appeals FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT Argued October 7, 2016 Decided December 27, 2016 No. 15-7121 ENRON NIGERIA POWER HOLDING, LTD., APPELLEE v. FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, APPELLANT Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (No. 1:13-cv-01106) David Elesinmogun argued the cause and filed the briefs for appellant. Kenneth R. Barrett argued the cause and filed the briefs for appellee. Before: ROGERS, TATEL and GRIFFITH, Circuit Judges. Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge ROGERS. ROGERS, Circuit Judge: In 1999, the Republic of Nigeria entered into a power purchase agreement (“PPA”) with Enron Nigeria Power Holding, Ltd. (“ENPH”), for construction of 2 electrical facilities. Days later, Nigeria suspended implementation of the PPA, and after years of attempted renegotiation over one phase of construction proved fruitless, ENPH filed under the PPA for arbitration by the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Court of Arbitration (“ICC”). The ICC issued an Award in ENPH’s favor. When collection efforts failed, ENPH filed a petition for confirmation and enforcement of the Award in the federal district court here. Nigeria now appeals from the order granting enforcement of the Award. Invoking Article V(2)(b) of The Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (known as the “New York Convention”), 21 U.S.T. 2517, Nigeria contends that enforcement of the Award violates the public policy of the United States not to reward a party for fraudulent and criminal conduct. It maintains that ENPH and Enron International Corporation (“Enron”) are alter egos, and, alternatively, that ENPH made false and fraudulent representations about Enron to induce Nigeria to enter the PPA. -
Enron's Pawns
Enron’s Pawns How Public Institutions Bankrolled Enron’s Globalization Game byJim Vallette and Daphne Wysham Sustainable Energy and Economy Network Institute for Policy Studies March 22, 2002 About SEEN The Sustainable Energy and Economy Network, a project of the Institute for Policy Studies (Washington, DC), works in partnership with citizens groups nationally and globally on environment, human rights and development issues with a particular focus on energy, climate change, environmental justice, and economic issues, particularly as these play out in North/South relations. SEEN views these issues as inextricably linked to global security, and therefore applies a human security paradigm as a framework for guiding its work. The reliance of rich countries on fossil fuels fosters a climate of insecurity, and a rationale for large military budgets in the North. In the South, it often fosters or nurtures autocratic or dictatorial regimes and corruption, while exacerbating poverty and destroying subsistence cultures and sustainable livelihoods. A continued rapid consumption of fossil fuels also ensures catastrophic environmental consequences: Climate change is a serious, emerging threat to the stability of the planet's ecosystems, and a particular hazard to the world's poorest peo- ple. The threat of climate change also brings more urgency to the need to reorient energy-related investments, using them to provide abundant, clean, safe energy for human needs and sustainable livelihoods. SEEN views energy not as an issue that can be examined in isolation, but rather as a vital resource embedded in a development strategy that must simultaneously address other fundamentals, such as education, health care, public par- ticipation in decision-making, and economic opportunities for the poorest. -
A Case of Corporate Deceit: the Enron Way / 18 (7) 3-38
NEGOTIUM Revista Científica Electrónica Ciencias Gerenciales / Scientific e-journal of Management Science PPX 200502ZU1950/ ISSN 1856-1810 / By Fundación Unamuno / Venezuela / REDALYC, LATINDEX, CLASE, REVENCIT, IN-COM UAB, SERBILUZ / IBT-CCG UNAM, DIALNET, DOAJ, www.jinfo.lub.lu.se Yokohama National University Library / www.scu.edu.au / Google Scholar www.blackboard.ccn.ac.uk / www.rzblx1.uni-regensburg.de / www.bib.umontreal.ca / [+++] Cita / Citation: Amol Gore, Guruprasad Murthy (2011) A CASE OF CORPORATE DECEIT: THE ENRON WAY /www.revistanegotium.org.ve 18 (7) 3-38 A CASE OF CORPORATE DECEIT: THE ENRON WAY EL CASO ENRON. Amol Gore (1) and Guruprasad Murthy (2) VN BRIMS Institute of Research and Management Studies, India Abstract This case documents the evolution of ‘fraud culture’ at Enron Corporation and vividly explicates the downfall of this giant organization that has become a synonym for corporate deceit. The objectives of this case are to illustrate the impact of culture on established, rational management control procedures and emphasize the importance of resolute moral leadership as a crucial qualification for board membership in corporations that shape the society and affect the lives of millions of people. The data collection for this case has included various sources such as key electronic databases as well as secondary data available in the public domain. The case is prepared as an academic or teaching purpose case study that can be utilized to demonstrate the manner in which corruption creeps into an ambitious organization and paralyses the proven management control systems. Since the topic of corporate practices and fraud management is inherently interdisciplinary, the case would benefit candidates of many courses including Operations Management, Strategic Management, Accounting, Business Ethics and Corporate Law. -
July 31, 2013 Local Government Assistance & Economic Analysis
July 31, 2013 Local Government Assistance & Economic Analysis Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts P.O. Box 13528 Austin, Texas 78711-3528 RE: Application to the Fort Stockton Independent School District from Barilla Solar, LLC FIRST QUALIFYING YEAR 2014 To the Local Government Assistance & Economic Analysis Division: By copy of this letter transmitting the application for review to the Comptroller’s Office, the Fort Stockton Independent School District is notifying the Applicant Barilla Solar, LLC of its intent to consider Barilla Solar, LLC’s application for appraised value limitation on qualified property. The Applicant submitted the application to the school district on July 22, 2013. The Board voted at a properly posted Board meeting to accept the application on July 22, 2013. The application was determined complete by the school district on July 31, 2013. Please prepare the economic impact report. The Applicant has included confidential materials with the application. The materials have been provided both in electronic and hard copy format. We have not attached the confidential materials to this email to avoid the unintended disclosure of these materials. Barilla Solar, LLC has also requested that Page 8 of the Application and Schedules A-D attached be kept “Confidential”, as well. Your office has already determined that information regarding investment levels and employment cannot be kept confidential. Even though the Applicant has written Confidential across the top of the Schedules, such information must be published on the website. Letter to Local Government Assistance & Economic Analysis Division July 31, 2013 Page 2 of 2 No construction has begun at the project site as of the date of the filing of the application and the District’s determination that the application is complete. -
The Enron Fraud and Scandal and What It Means to Business Today
The Impact of the Crooked “E” The Enron Fraud and Scandal And What It Means to Business Today Ed Ferrara MIS5208 – Project 1 – Examples of Corporate Fraud [email protected] Agenda § Facts About Enron – Company History § The Players – The Executives § Enron – So Many Dimensions of Fraud § A Chronology of Enron’s Collapse § The Aftermath § What It Means § References § Appendix A – Other perpetrators The Enron Players – The Executives Ken Lay – Enron Chairman and CEO David Duncan – Andersen Partner – Enron Convicted on 29 criminal counts including Partner responsible for Enron. Fired for failure to conspiracy, securities and wire fraud. Dies in exercise “due professional care and the necessary Aspen Colorado on July 5 2006 while awaiting skepticism”. Pled guilty to obstruction of justice – sentencing for his convictions.1 later rescinded plea, and struck deal with SEC.4 Jeffrey SkillinG – Enron CEO Sherron Watkins – Enron VP Internal Audit Convicted for fraud, conspiracy, insider trading and Watkins, who has never been charged with insider lying to auditors in the largest corporate fraud in trading, sold almost $50,000 in stock after her history. More than 4,000 Enron employees lost August 2001 meeting with Lay — and before Enron their jobs, many lost their life savings, when Enron shares became worthless months later. “No,” she declared bankruptcy in 2001. Investors lost billions told prosecutor John Hueston when he asked her if of dollars.2 her stock sales were proper. “I had more information than the marketplace did.”5 Andrew Fastow Charged with 78 counts of fraud due to his role in Theft using off-balance sheet entities that did business (Misappropriation) with Enron. -
Conspiracy of Fools”
Submitted version of review published in GARP Risk Review Review of “Conspiracy of Fools” Joe Pimbley Kurt Eichenwald’s Conspiracy of Fools (Broadway Books, 2005) is a spellbinding account of the rise and fall of Enron. In nearly 700 pages the reader finds answers to “what happened?” and “how did it happen?” Based on retrospective interviews with more than a hundred primary and secondary actors in this drama, the author creates multiple, parallel story lines. He jumps back and forth between these sub-plots in a manner that maintains energy and gives the reader many natural stopping points. The great strengths of Conspiracy are that it’s thorough, extremely well- written, captivating, and, finally, it rings true. The author avoids the easy, simple conclusions that all the executives are “guilty” of crimes or plain greed and that the media-lionized whistle-blower is pure of heart. We see the ultimate outcome as personal tragedies for Jeff Skilling (President) and Ken Lay (CEO) even though they are undeniably culpable. Culpability and guilt are not synonymous, however, and different readers will have widely different judgments to render on these two men. The view of Andrew Fastow is not so murky. He and a handful of his associates did indeed lie, cheat, and steal for personal gain. Fastow’s principle “contribution” to Enron was the creation of structured finance transactions to skirt accounting rules. This one-sentence description doesn’t tell the reader much. Eichenwald gives many examples to flesh out the concept. The story of “Alpine Investors” provides the simplest case. The company wished to sell the Zond Corporation, a wind-farm operator, prior to the closing of Enron’s purchase of Portland General. -
EN RON CORP. NOTICE of ANNUAL MEETING of SHAREHOLDERS May 2, 2000
EN RON CORP. NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS May 2, 2000 To THE S I-I AREHOLDERS: Notice is hereby given that the annual meeting of shareholders of Enton Corp. ("Enron") will be held in the LaSalle Ballroom of the Doubletree Hotel at Allen Center, 400 Dallas Street, Houston, Texas. at 10:00 a.m. Houston time on Tuesday, May 2, 2000, for the following purposes: I. To elect eighteen directors of Enron to hold office until the next annual meeting of shareholders and until their respective successors are duly elected and qualified; 2. To ratify the Board of Directors' appointment of Arthur Andersen LLP, independent public accountants, as Enton's auditors for the year ending December 31, 2000; 3. To consider a shareholder proposal from Brent Blackwelder, President, Friends of the Earth Action; 4. To consider a shareholder proposal from Dr. Julia M. Wershing; and 5. To transact such other business as may properly be brought before the meeting or any adjoumment(s) thereof. Holders of record of Enron Common Stock and Cumulative Second Preferred Convertible Stock at the close of business on March 3. 2000. will be entitled to notice of and to vote at the meeting or any adjoumment(s) thereof. Shareholders who do not expect to attend the meeting are requested to sign and return the enclosed proxy, for which a postage·paid, return envelope is enclosed. The proxy must be signed and returned in order to be counted. By Order of the Board of Directors, REBECCA C. CARTER Senior Vice President, Board Communications and Secretary Houston. -
Opening Statement of Rick Caplan
Opening Statement of Rick Caplan Before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations July 23, 2002 Thank you Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee. My name is Rick Caplan. I am a Managing Director of Citigroup’s Corporate and Investment Bank and co-head of the North American Credit Derivatives Group, one of several business groups at Citi that structures transactions for sophisticated corporate clients. I began working in the derivatives business at Citibank in 1997, and I first became involved in structuring certain transactions for Enron in 1999. A prepaid swap transaction – the transaction you have invited us to talk about today – is a form of structured finance. Structured financings have been used over the past several decades by virtually all sophisticated companies as a way of raising money. Just as companies always consider the tax, legal, and accounting consequences of every transaction they enter into and attempt to structure those transactions so as to achieve the most favorable results, the same is true when companies seek to finance themselves. Often times, the most efficient and effective form of financing for a company is not a straight loan, but a structured finance transaction that, in addition to generating liquidity, can address these other business considerations. Most large public companies use many different forms of structured financing. In each instance, they choose the form of financing that best addresses their unique business and capital needs. While many structured financings have the same economic impact as a loan, they often are treated differently for accounting purposes. Such transactions are commonplace in corporate America and play an integral role in our capital markets. -
Enron: Where Are They Now?
University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Supervised Undergraduate Student Research Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects and Creative Work Spring 5-2004 Enron: Where Are They Now? Aaron Montgomery Vickers University of Tennessee - Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_chanhonoproj Recommended Citation Vickers, Aaron Montgomery, "Enron: Where Are They Now?" (2004). Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_chanhonoproj/802 This is brought to you for free and open access by the Supervised Undergraduate Student Research and Creative Work at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Enron: Where Are They Now? Aaron Montgomery Vickers Senior Honors Project 4/30/04 Table Of Contents Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 The Collapse Firsthand .................................................................................................... 2 The Fastows, First to Fall ............................................ ,.................................................... 9 Jeffrey Skilling at Rock Bottom .................................................................................... 13 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... -
Sarbanes-Oxley and Corporate Greed Adria L
University of Connecticut OpenCommons@UConn Honors Scholar Theses Honors Scholar Program Spring 5-8-2011 Sarbanes-Oxley and Corporate Greed Adria L. Stigliano University of Connecticut - Storrs, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://opencommons.uconn.edu/srhonors_theses Part of the Accounting Commons, and the Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics Commons Recommended Citation Stigliano, Adria L., "Sarbanes-Oxley and Corporate Greed" (2011). Honors Scholar Theses. 207. https://opencommons.uconn.edu/srhonors_theses/207 Sarbanes-Oxley & Corporate Greed Adria L. Stigliano Spring 2011 Sarbanes-Oxley & Corporate Greed Adria L. Stigliano Spring 2011 Adria L. Stigliano Honors Thesis Spring 2011 Sarbanes-Oxley and Corporate Greed Sigmund Freud, the Austrian psychologist, believed that every human being is mentally born with a “clean slate”, known as Tabula rasa , where personality traits and character are built through experience and family morale. Other psychologists and neurologists believe individuals have an innate destiny to be either “good” or “bad” – a more fatalistic view on human life. Psychological theories are controversial, as it seems almost impossible to prove which theory is reality, but we find ourselves visiting these ideas when trust, ethics, reputation, and integrity are violated. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act is still a relatively new federal law set forth by the Securities Exchange Commission in 2002. Since its implementation, individuals have been wondering if Sarbanes-Oxley is effective enough and doing what it is meant to do – catch and prevent future accounting frauds and scandals. With the use of closer and stricter rules, the SOA is trying to prevent frauds with the use of a created Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. -
JEFF D. MAKHOLM Senior Vice President National Economic
JEFF D. MAKHOLM Senior Vice President National Economic Research Associates, Inc. 200 Clarendon Street Boston, Massachusetts 02116 (617) 927-4540 Dr. Makholm concentrates on the issues surrounding the privatization, regulation and deregulation of energy and transportation industries—those that operate networks (such as oil and gas pipelines, electricity transmission and gas distribution systems, telecommunications and water utility systems) and those operating infrastructure business at specific sites, such as oil refineries, electricity generation plants, gas treatment plants, sewage treatment plants and airports. These issues include the broad categories of efficient pricing, market definition and the components of reasonable regulatory practices. Specific pricing issues include tariff design, incentive ratemaking, and the unbundling of prices and services, and analysis of energy commodities markets. Issues of market definition include assessments of mergers, including the identification and measurement of market power. Issues of reasonable regulatory practices include the creation of credible and sustainable accounting rules for ratemaking as well as the establishment of administrative procedures for regulatory rulemaking and adjudication. On such issues among others, Dr. Makholm has prepared expert testimony, reports and statements, and has appeared as an expert witness in many states, federal and U.S. district court proceedings as well as before regulatory bodies and Parliamentary panels abroad. Dr. Makholm’s clients in the United States include privately held oil, gas and utility corporations, public corporations and government agencies. He has represented dozens of gas and electric distribution utilities, as well as both intrastate and interstate oil and gas pipeline companies and oil, gas and electricity producers. Dr. Makholm has also worked with many leading law firms engaged in issues pertaining to the local and interstate regulation of energy utilities. -
Liquid Assets: Enron's Dip Into Water Business Highlights Pitfalls of Privatization
Liquid Assets: Enron's Dip into Water Business Highlights Pitfalls of Privatization A special report by Public Citizen’s Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program Washington, D.C. March 2002 Liquid Assets: Enron's Dip into Water Business Highlights Pitfalls of Privatization A special report by Public Citizen’s Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program Washington, D.C. March 2002 This document can be viewed or downloaded at www.citizen.org/cmep. Public Citizen 215 Pennsylvania Ave., S.E. Washington, D.C. 20003 202-546-4996 fax: 202-547-7392 [email protected] www.citizen.org/cmep © 2002 Public Citizen. All rights reserved. Public Citizen, founded by Ralph Nader in 1971, is a non-profit research, lobbying and litigation organization based in Washington, D.C. Public Citizen advocates for consumer protection and for government and corporate accountability, and is supported by over 150,000 members throughout the United States. Liquid Assets: Enron's Dip into Water Business Highlights Pitfalls of Privatization Executive Summary The story of Enron Corp.’s failed venture into the water business serves as a cautionary tale for consumers and policymakers about the dangers of turning publicly operated water systems and resources over to private corporations and creating a private “market” system in which water can be traded as a commodity, as Enron did with electricity and tried to do with water. Enron’s water investments, which contributed to the company’s spectacular collapse, would not have been permitted had the Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA) been properly enforced and not continually weakened by the deregulation initiatives advocated by Enron and other energy companies.