Mr. Martin testified about accounting and consulting practices at Merrill Lynch as they related to the Enron financial collapse. Mr. Tilney and Mr. Furst appeared at the hearing, but invoked their Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. At issue were potential conflicts of interest between auditing and consulting functions of the relationship between Enron and Merrill Lynch, charges that Enron had unduly influenced Merrill Lynch to inflate stock purchase recommendations, and other potential illegal or unethical practices.