As Berkshire-Hathaway continues to whitewash Warren Buffett, a report on David Sokol's conduct by its "audit committee" has opened itself to more questions and confusion.
The audit committee, which consists of three “independent” directors, concluded Sokol had violated Berkshire’s insider-trading policies and code of ethics, an allegation he denies.
The report itself, however, was anything but independent.
Rather than hire its own separate legal counsel, as the company’s charter authorizes it to do, the audit committee relied on Berkshire’s longtime law firm, Munger, Tolles & Olson, to help conduct its probe and prepare the report. And the committee allowed Ronald Olson, a Munger Tolles partner and Berkshire director who isn’t independent of the company’s management, to act as its public spokesman, all of which underscores weaknesses in Berkshire’s own corporate governance.
Bloomberg article
