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.
A Christmas present from the SEC to America’s CEO’s. On the Friday before Christmas, the SEC has sneaked in a new rule changing the way stock option packages are calculated. The new rule reduce how much information shareholders would get on how much companies are actually paying their executives.
The Securities and Exchange Commission, panned by Congress for its handling of a trading probe, is now under investigation from the Government Accountability Office. Questions are now being asked whether the agency gave special treatment to a major fund-raiser for President Bush.
It doesn't have to be that way. Companies already have basic tax information at hand that could be released to the public without imposing significant costs. And some experts say they believe that the benefits to investors, regulators and the overall tax system could be substantial.
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.
