Having worked in business for many years - thankfully I am no longer in the corporate sphere these days - there was internal correspondence between key stakeholders that included proposals/suggestions/ideas which then had to be tested from a compliance point of view via the usual specialists before being implemented - obviously some proposals would be stopped in their tracks and go no further because of this. To use a crude example, a senior business leader might say to HR via an email I would like to dismiss Mr Magic Hat - clearly, this is not a wise thing to put on email, but the email itself does not mean that Mr Magic Hat would actually be sacked or that the dismissal would be unfair - This type of correspondence happens from time to time. When I worked in a really big company, there were loads of proposals/ideas/presentations relating to sales campaigns that had to be checked with the compliance team due to the company in question being in a regulated industry. I am pretty sure if you looked at some of the presentations in isolation (with no context) they could have been in breach of specific regulations (if implemented), but again, a presentation or an email does not mean something ultimately happened. In an organisation like City, under heavy scrutiny since the early 2010s from UEFA, there is no way they would actively look to breach specific regulations. I remember when UEFA created the FFP rules, I saw it reported that City actively engaged with the advisers that helped create the regulations for UEFA with the sole aim of being compliant with them. I cannot remember who the advisers for UEFA were, but they were one of the big hitters in the industry at the time. So, why would we do that and then go and implement something in breach of the regulations - sounds counter intuitive to me. If anything, like in any business, because accounting is a black art as opposed to a science, there are creative ways to present specific transactions/activities, this does not mean these transactions are in breach of any rules. That does not mean the regulating body are not going to challenge them or that they don't like them (e.g. Fordham the case of City via UEFA). It does not mean that they are in breach of the rules though. Anyway, back to Magic Hat, if City have done the things this individual is suggesting, City have managed to deceive a lot of very intelligent and capable people, which I find very hard to believe on the basis that we have been under scrutiny by UEFA since the early 2010s.
amp.theguardian.com