When the new Congress began its session last week, two familiar faces were not present: Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes and Rep. Michael G. Oxley, who are both retiring. Sarbanes, a Maryland Democrat, has served for 30 years; Oxley, an Ohio Republican, for 26 — and their main legacy will be their joint attack on corporate corruption, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

The act, which was passed hastily in the wake of the Enron scandal, was surely well-intentioned. But it has proven counterproductive in the extreme, and Congress would best honor the departing lawmakers by repealing it.

Sarbanes-Oxley has seriously harmed American corporations and financial markets without increasing investor confidence. The section of the law requiring companies to perform internal audits has turned out to be far more costly than proponents projected, especially for smaller firms. These costs have led some small companies to go private, hardly a victory for public oversight, and some foreign firms to withdraw their stocks from American exchanges.

[1] chron.com: Say goodbye to Sarbanes-Oxley