Reply #9: There she blows... first public "Enron" comparison

[salin]

The issue is whether a liquidator (siezing control of NoTW assets) would be inclined to shred possibly incriminating documents - in order to preserve the value of the assets to be liquidated. And here is a media lawyer's response: But the London insolvency solicitor Rodney Hylton-Potts dismissed the idea as legally implausible. "In a liquidation, a liquidator takes over all the books and records but that does not affect the obligations of a liquidator or a director to bear in mind any criminal inquiry," he said.

"The leading case in this is Enron, where the accountants, Arthur Anderson, sent around an email saying that they should shred things. They were severely criticised for that and it finished the firm.

My Enron comparison has more to do with the tipping point at which a once highly regarded corporation becomes toxic in public opinion - as happened pretty quickly with Enron. I think that we are watching this process unfold in the UK with News International. The question is how far the toxicity might spread to the larger Murdoch Media empire.