You are the Chief Executive Officer $($CEO$)$ of a highly successful international solar company, SunEnergy, Corporation. $2020$ was a record$-$breaking year for your company. As part of the C$-$suite compensation package, employee stock options are included with your annual salary. The entire C$-$Suite was granted $150,000$ options to buy shares plus their yearly salary. Everyone exercises their right to purchase these shares. Last week, one of the account managers, Luke, asked for a private meeting with you "off the record." You meet Luke at the local Yacht Club after work, and he shares that the financial information reported to the Securities Exchange Commission $($SEC$)$ numbers do not add up$.$ Upon further investigation, Luke discovered that Chief Accounting Officer, Emily, was inflating the stock prices. Emily is hiding the financial losses of the trading business and other company operations using mark$-$to$-$market $($MTM accounting$).$ This technique measures the value of a security based on its current market value instead of its book value. This can work well when trading securities but can be disastrous for actual businesses.

As you prepare for this assignment, consider the following questions:

What federal laws are SunEnergy, Corp. in violation of$?$

What criminal laws in business is Emily violating?

Can Luke expect whistleblower protections if he alerts the proper authorities?

Evaluate your ethical dilemma in continuing to operate your global business in light of these facts.

Address the above topics in a correctly formatted memo, sharing these issues and how to proceed. Your memo should be addressed to the company$$s legal counsel and the submission should be $2$ pages in length not including the title or reference page.