SOX Center

Japanese insurer Millea Holdings Inc. (8766.T) said on Thursday it will voluntarily have its shares delisted from the U.S. Nasdaq market and stop reporting its earnings under U.S. accounting rules to save costs.

Millea, a holding company with both life and non-life insurance operations, also announced plans to buy back up to 7 million of its own shares, or 31 billion yen ($253 million) worth. That is equal to about 0.8 percent of its outstanding shares.

Several foreign companies have recently delisted their shares from U.S. exchanges due to the high cost of maintaining a listing and complying with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, a set of tough accounting laws enacted to combat fraud after the Enron scandal.

Yahoo!.com: Japan insurer Millea quits Nasdaq, U.S. accounting

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, passed by the US Federal Government in response to the Enron scandal in 2002 has caused BioProgress to delist from NASDAQ for the second time, adding to the register of European firms fleeing the US market.

Cambridge-based specialty pharma and healthcare company, BioProgress has announced its intention to delist from the NASDAQ stock market on June 18, as a result of the limited benefits of trading on the American market becoming outweighed by the cost of adhering to the stringent laws instituted because of large scale corporate accounting scandals.

BusinessWeekly.co.uk: Another EoE firm abandons ‘burdensome’ NASDAQ

On the heels of stronger-than-expected economic growth numbers and ahead of the Federal Reserve announcement on interest rates, President Bush on Wednesday told a Wall Street audience that a strong economy worthy of investors’ confidence requires free trade, business regulation that’s fair but not oppressive, and better transparency in terms of executive pay.

The president also commended the creation of Sarbanes-Oxley - a law passed in the wake of the Enron scandal to create more transparency in corporate accounting. But, he said, compliance with the law has proven very costly for companies and may discourage some from listing on stock exchanges.

“A strong economy rests on strong and flexible capital markets. … Excess litigation and over-regulation threaten to make our markets less attractive to investors. …. We need to change the way the law is implemented,” Bush said.

cnnMoney: Bush: Mind CEO pay, change how Sarbanes-Oxley works

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.

chron.com: Say goodbye to Sarbanes-Oxley

When the new Congress begins its session this week, two familiar faces will not be present: Senator Paul Sarbanes and Representative Michael Oxley, who are both retiring. Their main legacy will be the joint attack on corporate corruption that bears their names — 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.

In addition, the average “listing premium” — the benefit that companies receive by listing their stocks on American exchanges — has declined by 19 percentage points since 2002. This explains why the percentage of worldwide initial public offerings on our exchanges dropped to 5 percent last year, from 50 percent in 2000.

iht: Enron’s last victim: American markets

Business has won the battle to ease one of the most controversial requirements mandated by the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate-reform law: that companies first review their own systems for ensuring accurate financial reports and then have them tested by outside auditors.

The nation’s business lobby, which says Sarbanes-Oxley is too burdensome, would like to see even broader changes in the law, which was passed in the wake of the Enron scandal to promote good corporate governance and prevent fraud. Democrats’ success in Tuesday’s congressional elections makes wholesale changes in the statute less likely.

But securities and accounting regulators are yielding to pressure for a more flexible reading of a provision of the law known as Section 404. Regulators have said they will propose guidance next month to help companies and auditors interpret Section 404 in a way likely to save them time and money.

That’s a big victory for business, which has mounted a concerted push to alter the regulation. It could also be good news for U.S. stock exchanges, which in recent years have blamed Sarbanes-Oxley, and particularly Section 404, for discouraging companies from going public in the U.S. or listing stock here.

Business Wins Easing of a Sarbanes-Oxley Rule