Is this similar to CALPERS and Enron??? (I'm trying to retrieve something in the back of my mind but this sounds vaguely familiar.)

The Brits and the BP spill

EXCERPT:
as the BP Bashing Gone Too Far?
There has been extensive coverage in Britain of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. But now it is not the environmental damage that is the big issue; it is the economic damage to BP caused by American politicians, including the president, as they demand that BP pay for the cleanup as well as compensation, and are now demanding the company not pay its shareholders dividends.

US politicians war on BP threatens collateral damage
EXCERPT:

But if BP bows to pressure on the dividend, fatcat oilmen will not be the only ones to suffer. Pension funds, 401Ks and individual investors will share the pain.

“As a small retired investor who looks forward to all my dividends, I hope BP does not drop or reduce its dividends,” wrote one BP investor in an email.

BP’s annual payout is important to many people. Last year, it was over $10 billion, or 14% of all payouts from companies on the FTSE 100 index in London. Of course, a substantial amount of this cash goes to British shareholders, who most American politicians probably think deserve what they get since their country shares its name with America’s most despised corporation.

But BP also has a substantial U.S. shareholding. Just under 40% of the company was owned by shareholders in the U.S. as of December 31 2009, according to BP data. These investors will also suffer from a punitive withdrawal of BP’s dividend.

CALPERS and ENRON
EXCERPT:
Merrill Lynch, Enron chased Calpers' assets

BLOOMBERG , NEW YORK
Sunday, Feb 10, 2002, Page 11

"They're the largest pool of assets in the nation."

Richard Holbein, president of a Dallas-based consulting firm approached by Merrill

Merrill Lynch & Co and Enron Corp touted profitable investments with the California Public Employees' Retirement System to draw investors into a private partnership the energy trader used to inflate earnings.
Calpers, the largest US public pension fund, had already decided against putting money in the LJM2 Co-investment partnership when Merrill distributed a prospectus highlighting investments the pension fund made with Enron. Former Enron financial chief Andrew Fastow and other company executives also cited Calpers as part of their pitch to raise US$394 million for LJM2, according to money managers.

Enron's relationship with Calpers "carried a very positive connotation," said Richard Holbein, president of a Dallas-based consulting firm approached by Merrill about LJM2. "They're the largest pool of assets in the nation."