Right, just an honest mistake. I do wonder whether many people in these top wall street positions can see "the appearance of unethical behavior" at all, from the eyes of non-wall streeters. Perhaps some people lie to themselves so often that they’re blinded to another perspective. Then again, they may know perfectly well what they’re doing. – Ilene
David Sokol, who resigned yesterday as a top manager at Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A), said he did nothing unethical when he bought stock in a company that he later proposed as a takeover target to Chairman Warren Buffett.
“I don’t believe that I did anything wrong,” Sokol told CNBC today in a televised interview. “I can understand the appearance issue and that’s why we made it public.”
Sokol, 54, bought about 96,000 Lubrizol Corp. (LZ) shares in January, less than two weeks before recommending the company as a target, Buffett said yesterday in a statement. Sokol had started confidential talks with Lubrizol the month before, according to a regulatory filing last week. Lawyers at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission were reviewing Buffett’s statement and discussing the matter, according to one person with knowledge of the talks.
via Sokol Denies Wrongdoing in Lubrizol Stock Purchases – Bloomberg.
