NY Attorney General Wields Powerful Weapon in Exxon Climate Case In 1921, New York State implemented the Martin Act which prosecutors in the state still use in cases of possible deception by large financial entities. The Martin Act has commonly been described as one of the broadest mandates against securities fraud as state prosecutors are required only to prove that a company misrepresented or omitted material information in offering securities, but not that the company had an intent to deceive. The statue can bring about both civil and criminal charges. In the early 2000s, then New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer used this statue in his case against many Wall Street firms. Now the current New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman will use this enactment in the ongoing investigation and trial against Exxon Oil Company. Exxon Oil Company is currently under scrutiny for possibly failing to disclose information to outside investors and the public about the effects of Exxon’s oil production on the climate and more importantly how those negative effects would affect the company’s business. The company …show more content…
Though this a possible investigation, it would be much more difficult to prosecute Exxon of federal securities fraud because of many more restricting and specific guidelines under the SEC. The Martin Act of 1921 is a state – not a federal – mandate and therefore only carries jurisdiction in the courts of New York State. For the SEC to find a judgement against Exxon they must prove an intent to deceive, whereas Schneiderman will not have to do as such. Therefore, it is unlikely that Exxon will be brought to court for possible fraud in other states or in a federal court of
It took for the losing in the case with two Bear Stearns hedge fund managers for the government to realize that there was a problem within their justice system. If they couldn’t take down two people accused of deceiving investors, how did they assume that they would be able to take down numerous high-end executives within Wall Street? So in fall 2009, over a year after the initial hit of the financial crisis, Obama introduced the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task to oversee prosecution for fraud and financial crime a week before the hearing to discuss ’08 financial crisis prosecution. With such a department now put in place, the government believed they could go back and review the “fraud” that took place within Wall Street years before and place a blame somewhere, revealing another flaw of the US government and justice system. The government wasn’t taking the cases as serious as they should have. They weren’t finding ways to filter through Due Diligence underwriters and they weren’t calling forth whistleblowers. They were losing the case before it could even
When John D. Rockefeller merged with the railroad companies, he had gained control of a strategic transportation route that no other companies would be able to use. Rockefeller would then be able to force the hand on the railroads and was granted a rebate on his shipments of oil. This was a kind of secret agreement between the two industries. None of the competition knew what the rates were for the rebates or the rates that Rockefeller was paying the railroad. This made it hard for the competition to keep up with the Standard Oil Company. The consequences led to many oil companies getting bought out by Rockefeller secretly. All in all, 25 co...
This case is based on Mrs. Jennifer Sharkey, who sued J.P. Morgan & Co. (JCMC), Mr. Kenny, Mr. Green, and Mrs. Lassiter, alleging breach of contract and violations of the SOX anti-retaliation statute. The facts started when Mrs. Sharkey was assigned to a Suspect Client 's account where members of JPMC expressed to her their concern regarding to this account because they suspected that the Suspect Client was involved in illegal activities. After Mrs. Sharkey’s investigation, she claimed that she informed her conclusions to superiors Mr. Kenny, Mr. Green, and Mrs. Lassiter, of the Suspect Client 's potential unlawful activities, such as: money laundering, mail fraud, bank engaged in fraud, and violations of federal securities laws. After
In John Grisham's The Pelican Brief, he uses symbolism to illustrate the blatant disregard large oil companies have for our environment. Fossil fuels, sometimes referred to as crude oil, include natural gas, petroleum, and coal. Fossil Fuels are produced when layers of decaying plants and animals have been exposed to a great amount of heat and pressure for millions of years under the earth’s surface (Lawrence). Fossil Fuels have many uses such as, powering vehicles, heating homes, creating electricity and are essential to manufacturing businesses. In 2012, nearly 82 percent of the world’s energy came from fossil fuels (Lawrence). In The Pelican Brief, Victor Mattiece is the owner of a large oil company. He drills
Exxon Mobil is world’s largest publicly traded integrated oil company serving companies in more than 200 countries worldwide. Standard and Poor’s stock report for Exxon Mobil indicates that Exxon’s global functional organization and substantial diversification helps mitigate its exposure to business risk and margin volatility.
Exxon Mobil is a reactive company, in the sense that it only acts when things go wrong, the company had to embrace CSR in light of invents that threatened to tarnish the image of the company. However the company has tried to be proactive in some areas with minimal success, this includes: wind power and solar panel constructions, for instance, are real not just stories. 3% reduction of gas emissions and 23% of sulfur are also real and provable results.
Prior to the year of 1999, Exxon and Mobil were the two largest American oil companies, which were direct descendants of the John D. Rockefeller’s broken up Standard Oil Company. In 1998 Exxon and Mobil signed an eighty billion dollar merger agreement in hope to form Exxon Mobil Corporation, the largest company ever created. Such a merger seems astonishing, not only because it reunited parts of Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company, but also because it would be extremely difficult for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to approve this merger due to its size and importance in the oil market. In fact, it took the FTC an entire year after the merger was proposed to make a decision due to its rigorous analysis in the product and its geographic market, the concentration of the oil market, the potential anticompetitive effects of the merger, the effects towards their growth and labor force, and lastly, the likelihood of entry and the efficiencies that may affect anticompetitive concerns. Although all of these notions are played a role in the analysis of the merger, it is important to remember that the merger’s result efficiencies did outweigh the the anticompetitive risks that were involved, especially since the oil market was headed towards decreasing prices to expand production.
Exxon/Mobil, one of the nation’s leading oil producers, has its main refinery located in Beaumont, Texas. Each year, the residents of Beaumont/Port Arthur have to contend with the 39,000 pounds of pollution spewed each year by the Exxon refinery. Exxon’s emissions are 385% above the state refinery average. In 1999, the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Committee (TNRCC) allowed the plant to increase their emissions, without allowing the public to have a say in the matter. Interestingly, 95% of the people living near the plant are of African American descent and are in the poverty range. Some believe that this, along with the lack of education in the area, allows Exxon to get away with such high emissions. Residents in nearby neighborhoods have been complaining of headaches, nausea, eye, and throat irritation for years. Since 1997, Mobil has repeatedly violated health standards in its emissions of two key air pollutants: sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, These “rotten egg” smells are so strong, one can smell it through a car driving past the refinery. After numerous complaints and one record of a refinery worker becoming unconscious because of the fumes, the EPA awarded Exxon with a $100,000 environmental justice grant in October of 1998. Hopefully, Exxon has put the money to good use and cleaned up their emissions.
People need to reduce the use of carbon footprints because many companies like Exxon and Keystone XL did their dirty business that effect public health and environment. Political campaigns are part of the effect in global warming because they promise to go green but never make an effort. Obama forced to solve climate but fail to do so in 2008. Obama signed a billion that support teams of energy advisors and control carbon emissions. According to Derber, big business did not support the bill and tried to get rid of it. Fracking is a process used by fossil fuel companies to extract oil and gas from shale or other deep rocks. There was a movement against fracking lead by Jill Wiener who fought for 5 years to keep fracking legalized in New York and some people were arrested in the White house for
Most people believe that one man-made natural disaster would teach us to be better, but we have learned that history repeats itself. The Exxon Valdez oil spill (in 1989) and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, or BP oil spill, (in 2010) were both devastating oil spills that shocked the nation. The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred due to a tanker grounding. The BP oil spill was caused by an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform. These two oil spills were both disasters and had greater effects in certain categories. In this essay, I will be comparing the cause of both oil spills, the damage/effect of both oil spills, and the cleanup of each oil spill.
Most of Scrushy’s alleged misconduct occurred prior to the enactment of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX). To sum...
The Movie “Client 9” is a about a man name Eliot Spitzer, who become extremely known in New York for having the highest reputation of ethical standards and unearthing wrong-doers. They called him the “Sheriff of Wall Street” do to his prestigious repute for changing the way many Wall Street firms do business. He was New York’s attorney general of Investment Protection Bureau. Eliot was reputable not only for the justifications he accomplished, but more for his aggressive yet lawful manner that required sophistication and nerve.
The nature of the problem is the increase in the amount of pollution that companies such as Chevron cause with their multimillion companies worldwide as it only increases every year as they sought new resources and by this it requires drilling into the earth and damaging the environment. Chevron refineries have caused water pollution with their oil leakages and air pollution with their power plant and energy stations. The ethical problem that need to be addressed is how Chevron as many other companies, as they contribute to global
Companies that refuse to accept that they will face a strict and demanding environment. The most talented human capital companies that do work to care for natural resources, the regulation will raise the cost of not using resources properly, consumers will demand products and environmentally friendly. In short, choosing between sustainability and growth is not an option.
In the 1990’s after the United States Congress approved legislation that deregulated the sale of natural gas, Enron was able to sell energy at much higher prices and to gain higher revenues. This is when Enron’s engagement in criminal activity is considered to have begun. While most companies’ activities regarding commercial business are regulated and watched over by the government, deregulated companies “are not subject to government mandating and oversight; as a result, the executives of ENRON were able to misrepresent their respective earnings reports and stock activity in a fraudulent manner” (Finance Law) by misrepresenting their earnings therefore falsely inflating the prices of their sto...