g'day boomer.... you raise an excellent point..... senators in inquiries doo act as if interrogating a secret spy who would love to blow up Parliament. always on the lookout for Guy Fawkes. but the arrogance of some is remarkable.
but I must ask if you watched the entire interview? did you follow the questioning wrt ROE? Did Banducci at any time give a straight answer to the question?
I don't know if he did or not as I didn't watch the whole show. but it seemed that Banducci was avoiding exposing information he didn't want to be known publicly.
sure these questions might seem untoward or inappropriate, but at the same time seniors are charged with finding out facts so they can form an opinion as to whether, in this case, WW is 'profiteering' on the back of rising inflation.
we all know that successful businesses like to maximise profits. as shareholders we are entitled to a dividend and any business wants to increase the divi each year to ensure the execs can be paid their bonuses. WW claimed they have an operating margin of roughly 2.5%. but we all know too that such numbers are the result of wanting positive exposure to the general public. i.e. the don't want 'us' to knowhow much profit they make.
this item is of great public significance. the impression I got from the news exposure is that Banducci was trying to hide the number that might expose them to tighter scrutiny of the true profit margin.
McKim's issue was that it's compulsory under law that all must give true and full answers to questions asked by senators. if Banducci was prevaricating or trying to divert from the actual answer, and it seems he was asked several times, though it would have been appropriate to show Banducci's answers in full, it seemed he was not being honest. certainly he would know the ROE of the business..... ergo it seems like he lied to the Senate inquiry.
so maybe McKim was right to read him the consequence of the4 risk he was taking.
