Save North Forest!

North Forest is located in an area of outstanding natural beauty that also includes a number of small towns and villages. Many local residents moved into the area after retiring and were attracted by the opportunity to breathe fresh air and be surrounded by beautiful views. In doing so, we have brought wealth into a local economy that was struggling because there was little employment to encourage younger people born in the area to stay.

Wodd plans to destroy North Forest in order to fuel a power station that will, in itself, spoil the view as well as polluting the atmosphere.

Globally, vast areas of forests are cleared every year for commercial exploitation. This creates untold risks for the planet because trees are responsible for giving us breathable air.

Local residents are working together with Green Marland, Marland's largest environmental campaigner, to draw attention to the damage that Wodd is threatening to inflict on this area.

We ask you to write to the Government planning department to ask it to refuse to issue a permit for this development. We also ask you to sign our online petition and to consider joining us in peaceful and non-violent direct action against the bulldozers in the event that our efforts to block the granting of a Government permit should fail.

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You have received the following email from Peter Sorchi, CEO:

From: Peter Sorchi, Chief Executive Officer

To: Senior Finance Manager

Fwd: Tax avoidance article

Hi,

I am forwarding you an email from a journalist. It came in via our press office, who passed it up the management chain and it ended up in my inbox.

Some of the basic facts stated in the draft article are correct:

We do have arrangements in place with leading tax advisers for referrals of potential clients. We pay a commission for all such referrals, which the tax adviser is required to disclose to the client.

Barry Crauder has been one of our largest clients for many years. He owns significant forested land and we manage that in return for our usual fee.

We do not offer tax advice, or promote forestry as a tax-efficient investment. We simply offer a forestry management service as a paid service.

I would like you to address the following issues and I need your reply as a matter of some urgency.

Could we be accused of behaving unethically with respect to this aspect of our forestry management service?

Please draft a response that we can submit to Sonia Jones. Please also give an explanation for the Board as to how you will address the fact that the draft newspaper article clearly makes us appear to be unethical. We will consider your draft and related comments at a meeting this afternoon, before submitting anything.

Peter

To: Press Office, Wodd

From: Sonia Jones, reporter, Daily Gazette

Re: Tax avoidance article

I am seeking a response from Wodd concerning the activities of the celebrity Barry Crauder. We have established that Mr Crauder has been investing heavily in forestry in order to avoid paying tax on the considerable wealth that he has amassed from his show business career.

We believe that a significant part of this story is the relationship between forestry companies such as Wodd and professional tax advisers. When researching this story I posed as a wealthy investor and approached several firms that specialise in offering tax avoidance advice to high net worth individuals. Four of the firms whom I approached recommended a forestry scheme and specifically recommended Wodd to manage it for me. I believe that Wodd has a close relationship with these firms and possibly others.

I have attached a draft of my story. I have sufficient evidence to support every fact stated. I am writing in order to give Wodd the opportunity to respond if it wishes to do so, although the story will run regardless. I will require your comment within 48 hours, otherwise, I will run the story as it stands.

Sonia Jones

Chief reporter, Daily Gazette

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A month has passed since you submitted the report requested by William Seaton, Director of Finance on the Board's proposals.

You have received the following email:

From: William Seaton, Director of Finance

To: Finance Manager

Subject: Shale oil

Hi,

One of the geologists made a presentation to the Board, proposing that we investigate the extraction of shale oil deposits. I have attached the slides that were used as the basis for this presentation.

I need you to work on a response to this document:

Firstly, what risks do you envisage in our entry to the shale oil business?

Secondly, what do you regard as the key factors that we should consider when deciding on proceeding with this

proposal? Please justify your selection.

Thirdly, what factors should we take into account when deciding on which country or countries to commence this

side of the business?

Finally, what are the challenges in creating a team of technical staff to lead our efforts in this area?

William

The presentation slides can be found by clicking on the Reference Materials button.

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Reference Material:

Wodd's Chief Executive, Peter Sorchi has stopped you in the corridor:

"This weak USD is really causing us some serious problems. I think that it is only a matter of time before the stock market starts to get nervous and I am worried that our share price will fall in the near future. Thank goodness it does not appear to have fallen by much so far.

I would like to brief the Board on two main issues tomorrow. Firstly, what can we do as a Board in order to minimise the negative impact of the weak USD on our share price? Secondly, we know the identities of the key investment analysts who deal with our industry. Would it be a good idea for us to brief them? Please also consider the ethical issues arising from both of these topics as well as the more technical matters.

Please let me have a copy of your briefing notes in advance. I need to be able to sound convincing at the meeting. I'll also have my secretary refer you to a really helpful blog."

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Newsweb

Protesters block bulldozers

Attempts by Wodd to harvest some of the hardwood trees from their newly acquired Bravadorian forest suffered a further setback yesterday.

Wodd's bulldozers have been unable to make any headway in clearing the site for the company's first logging base because environmental groups from several countries have descended on the Bravadorian jungle to protest the proposed destruction of the forest and the associated harvesting of many rare hardwood trees. Protestors have chained themselves to trees and to heavy equipment, making it impossible to commence the clearance operations.

Wodd's problems have been compounded by the recent discovery that a tribe of forest dwellers has lived in the forest for many generations, making little or no contact with the outside world in the process. The tribe is effectively nomadic, moving from one part of the forest to another, surviving by hunting game and gathering edible vegetation and relocating when food starts to become scarce. The environmental protestors claim that Wodd's activities will make it impossible for this tribe to continue with its traditional way of life.

Wodd claims to adhere to The Forestry Stewardship Council of Marland's ten principles, which include the assurance that "The legal and customary rights of indigenous peoples to own, use and manage their lands, territories, and resources shall be recognized and respected."

Reference Material:

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