Message-ID: <18153194.1075852558839.JavaMail.evans@thyme> Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2001 09:13:02 -0700 (PDT) From: nancy.sellers@robertmondavi.com To: jeff_dasovich@enron.com, eldon@direcpc.com, psellers@haas.berkeley.edu, psellers@pacbell.net Subject: FW: Enron Dumps CFO Amid Conflict Questions Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-From: Nancy Sellers X-To: 'Jeff Dasovich' , 'Eldon Sellers' , Prentice @ Berkeley , Prentice Sellers X-cc: X-bcc: X-Folder: \JDASOVIC (Non-Privileged)\Deleted Items X-Origin: Shankman-J X-FileName: JSHANKM (Non-Privileged).pst You guys sure are in the news a lot!! I think you should take over - it's the only way out -----Original Message----- From: CFO.com_Newsletters@cfo.com [mailto:CFO.com_Newsletters@cfo.com] Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2001 9:09 AM To: nancy.sellers@robertmondavi.com Subject: Enron Dumps CFO Amid Conflict Questions http://www.cfo.com CFO.com's Today in Finance ________________________________Sponsor ________________________________ Infrastructure: it starts with you. See the difference when your infrastructure works around YOUR needs rather than the other way around. Servers are flexible enough to handle multiple operating systems. Software puts your entire infrastructure in reach of your keyboard. Storage squeezes more efficiency out of resources you've already invested in. It's the HP difference at: http://ad.2clk.net/eclk;3252766;1729382256984211925;6543288;47648;;10041. _________________________________________________________________________ Thursday, October 25, 2001 Circuit Breaker: Enron Dumps CFO Amid Conflict Questions By Stephen Taub Enron Corp. is set to replace CFO Andrew Fastow. As CFO.com reported in a story earlier this week, Fastow's role in a limited partnership has raised concerns about a conflict of interest. Fastow is succeeded by Jeff McMahon, who had been serving as chairman and CEO of Enron's Industrial Markets group. From 1998 to 2000, McMahon was Enron's treasurer. He resigned that post in part because he disapproved of Fastow's role in running two partnerships, according to The Wall Street Journal. "In my continued discussions with the financial community, it became clear to me that restoring investor confidence would require us to replace Andy as CFO," said Kenneth L. Lay, Enron chairman and CEO, in a statement. McMahon, 40, joined Enron in 1994 and spent three years in the London office as CFO for the company's European operations. Upon returning to the United States, McMahon assumed the post of EVP of finance and treasurer for Enron Corp. In 2000, he was named president and COO of Enron Net Works, where he focused on E-commerce activities. As reported on Friday, The Wall Street Journal said a limited partnership organized by Fastow, who has been Enron's CFO since 1997, racked up millions of dollars in profits from transactions conducted with the energy company. On Monday, Enron said the Securities and Exchange Commission requested information regarding certain related party transactions. On October 16, Enron stunned Wall Street when it announced that it would take a $1.01 billion after-tax charge for the September 30 quarter. Since the announcement, Enron's share price has more than halved. Fastow's dismissal seems to be an about-face for Enron. In a conference call Tuesday, Lay said the partnerships were fully disclosed and took steps to assure that there was no conflict as Fastow played both roles. Enron has since dissolved the partnerships. "Obviously, the board and even the lawyers and auditors realized that there would be an apparent conflict of interest there and the board prescribed certain methods for it to be dealt with ... so Enron would never be compromised," Lay said in published accounts. "We are very concerned [at] the way Andy's character has been loosely thrown about in certain articles, as well as the company's reputation." Predictably, on Wednesday at least two law firms - Stull, Stull & Brody and Bernstein Liebhard & Lifshitz, L.L.P - filed class-action suits against Enron, Lay, Fastow, and Jeffrey K. Skilling, the former Enron chief executive who resigned in August. The suits allege that the defendants issued false and misleading information that materially misstated the company's condition and prospects to the investing public. Moreover, the suits argue that the company failed to disclose material information necessary to make its prior statements not misleading. The complaints charge that Enron issued a series of statements concerning its business, financial results, and operations which failed to disclose, among other things: * The company's Broadband Services Division was experiencing declining demand for bandwidth, and the company's efforts to create a trading market for bandwidth were not meeting with success, as many of the market participants were not creditworthy. * The company's operating results were materially overstated, since Enron failed to write down in a timely fashion the value of its investments with certain limited partnerships - the partnerships that were managed by Fastow. * Enron was failing to write down impaired assets on a timely basis in accordance with GAAP. Read On! For More of Today in Finance http://m.s.maildart.net/link_30322_6543288_1_120086373_73941461_0_7a **********************FROM OUR FEATURED ADVERTISER ********************** Save on e-billing. With $25,000 off the top. 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Thank you! http://charts.cfo.com/cfomag/bpsurvey1.html __________________________________________________________________________ Also on CFO.com: BANKING: Banking Without Borders. http://m.s.maildart.net/link_30323_6543288_1_120086373_73941461_0_7b CFOs ON THE MOVE: Parts is Parts? CFO at Lear Corp. Steps Down. http://m.s.maildart.net/link_30326_6543288_1_120086373_73941461_0_7e CFO EXCELLENCE: Lessons from the Top Cop of Risk. http://m.s.maildart.net/link_30325_6543288_1_120086373_73941461_0_7d SOFTWARE: Financial Portals -- Behind the Green Door. http://m.s.maildart.net/link_30324_6543288_1_120086373_73941461_0_7c ________________________________________________________________________ For information about advertising in this newsletter, contact Mimi Capalaces, VP of Sales. Call (212) 698-9738 or write to mimicapalaces@cfo.com ________________________________________________________________________ Get the Magazine - FREE Subscription - CFO Magazine is free to qualified readers. To subscribe go to: http://as400.halldata.com/cgi-bin/subscribe/cf?SS=SHRTFRM&pk=HP7 Become a registered user and receive FREE, unlimited access to CFO.com. Go to: http://www.cfo.com/User_Registration ________________________________________________________________________ Copyright (c) 2001 CFO Publishing Corporation To access the Unsubscribe page, click this link: http://www.cfo.com/unsubscribe_nl/1,5013,807612|34978|7,00.html This email was sent to:nancy.sellers@robertmondavi.com