Former Congressman and Sarbox co-writer Michael Oxley says he’s not happy with Sarbanes-Oxley. But he says it’s not his fault. He blames it on the auditors.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has moved to finalise guidelines for companies and auditors to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley and make the system more flexible than the original Sarbox package. Don’t be fooled by the official line. There’s lots more work to be done and Sarbox remains a nightmare.
Nearly five years after Sarbanes-Oxley was brought in, US regulators are still trying to sort out how much testing accountants will have to do in corporate audits. The Securities and Exchange Commission is trying to strong arm the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
Is Sarbanes-Oxley becoming the global standard?? The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is
drumming support in Asia and the Securities and Exchange Commission is training regulators
overseas. To the SOX-bashers, that sends a clear message: the regulators are not budging.
The Free Enterprise Fund’s constitutional challenge to Sarbanes-Oxley has been thrown out of court. But the Fund’s legal team, led Kenneth Starr of Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky fame, says it will appeal.
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board warns that policy makers risk damaging the reputation and competitiveness of U.S. markets if they roll back Sarbanes-Oxley.
Leon Gettler is a blogger and senior business journalist at The Age, specializing on management issues. His latest book, Organisations Behaving Badly focuses on the forces that lead smart executives into making dumb decisions.
