Sarbanes-Oxley Act

[KarlMarx]

Superfluous Sarbanes-Oxley
This post-Enron corporate governance law is more than many businesses can handle.

By John Tamny

Amidst a lawsuit seeking its repeal and separate pressure to simply reduce its negative impact on smaller public firms, supporters of the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate governance law are mobilizing to keep the bill intact. Former SEC chairman Arthur Levitt is arguably the most prominent supporter of Sarbanes-Oxley, stating his case in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed.


Levitt feels that if the most stringent aspects of Sarbanes-Oxley were reduced for small businesses, it would be “more difficult for smaller companies to attract capital needed for growth and undermine confidence in the markets.” Maybe so, but if what Levitt asserts were in fact true, why would the small-business lobby be so aggressively seeking exemptions?

What the small-business lobby apparently understands, and what Levitt apparently does not, is that small businesses are well aware of what might result from not complying with Sarbanes-Oxley rules. Better yet, they’re willing to weather any negative market reaction to their opting out of the law’s most onerous requirements

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remainder of article at:

http://www.nationalreview.com/nrof_comment/tamny200602200909.asp