SOX Center

Yesterday, Marie Leone’s blog took the U.S. Senate to task for walking out on their cafeteria bills, drawing a neat analogy to Bluto, John Belushi’s cafeteria-plundering character in Animal House. (A free CFO.com travel mug goes to the first poster who can tell us why else Marie’s analogy was so apt).
But Sarah Johnson’s story about […]

After causing grief and lost millions for many high-tech companies, Michael Oxley is now their new friend in high places.
The veteran politician and co-author of the controversial Sarbanes-Oxley corporate reform law yesterday joined Nasdaq in a newly created job as vice chairman.
The 63-year-old former GOP congressman will become a lobbyist and policy advisor serving CEOs […]

Preparing for a smooth CEO succession. Nurturing future leaders in the pipeline. Both are hallmarks of most admired companies, says Fortune’s Sheridan Prasso.
CEOs can get dumped more quickly than you can say “backdated stock options” in this post-Sarbanes-Oxley world. That’s one reason companies that do an effective job of CEO succession planning - and of […]

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox told the largest U.S. business lobby he opposes weakening the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, rejecting the group’s claim that the law has made the nation’s financial markets less competitive.
“We don’t need to change the law,’’ Cox said today at a Washington summit hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “We […]

Key lawmakers and regulators debated the effectiveness of the Sarbanes-Oxley anti-fraud law at a summit on American competitiveness Wednesday, with no quick fix emerging about the often criticized act.
The chairman of the House Financial Services Committee said he’s open to changing parts of the law, which requires costly accounting checks and has been roundly criticized […]

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Tuesday a balance must be struck between ensuring the competitiveness of financial markets and protecting investors.
Paulson addressed a gathering of top business leaders and former government officials. The conference followed months of campaigning by American business for an easing of laws and regulations established after the Enron debacle.
Paulson said the […]

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce had offered up a number of recommendations for changes to the country’s legal and regulatory framework — taking aim at Securities and Exchange Commission and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the process.
The chamber, which lobbies for 3 million companies and more than 800 business associations, has been a vocal critic of […]

Suit alleges they tried to bridge gaps in the company’s performance by manipulating finances.
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged 4 former Nortel Networks executives with accounting fraud Monday.
Former CFO and controller Douglas C. Beatty, former CFO and CEO Frank A. Dunn, former Controller Michael J. Gollogly and former Assistant Controller and VP of corporate reporting […]

Political sentiment runs in predictable cycles. In the midst of the stock-market bubble, no one cared about regulation and oversight. Everyone was making too much money to bother.
Then the money machine stopped, companies such as Enron and WorldCom blew up with their spectacular accounting frauds, and everyone was screaming for blood. A few perp walks […]

The push by business interests to ease the laws and rules laid down in response to the 2002 corporate scandals is getting a serious hearing in Washington that is giving the idea heightened visibility.
An array of companies and business leaders have been making the case that the requirements born of the crisis of corporate malfeasance […]