Senator Schumer & Mayor Mike want to "re-examine" Sarbanes-Oxley and "revisit the best way to reduce frivolous lawsuits"

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Interesting op-ed this morning in the Wall Street Journal (subs. req.) by Sen. Schumer and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

[...]

With the benefit of hindsight, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which imposed a new regulatory framework on all public companies doing business in the U.S., also needs to be re-examined. Since its passage, auditing expenses for companies doing business in the U.S. have grown far beyond anything Congress had anticipated. Of course, we must not in any way diminish our ability to detect corporate fraud and protect investors. But there appears to be a worrisome trend of corporate leaders focusing inordinate time on compliance minutiae rather than innovative strategies for growth, for fear of facing personal financial penalties from overzealous regulators.

[And], what lessons can we learn from other nations' legal environments? The total value of securities class-action lawsuits in the U.S. has skyrocketed in recent years, to $9.6 billion in 2005 from $150 million in 1997. The U.K. and other nations have laws that far more effectively discourage frivolous suits. It may be time to revisit the best way to reduce frivolous lawsuits without eliminating meritorious ones.

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=Y...zBjYWM1ZThlOTU=

[almaty 19]

Interesting op-ed this morning in the Wall Street Journal (subs. req.) by Sen. Schumer and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

[...]

With the benefit of hindsight, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which imposed a new regulatory framework on all public companies doing business in the U.S., also needs to be re-examined. Since its passage, auditing expenses for companies doing business in the U.S. have grown far beyond anything Congress had anticipated. Of course, we must not in any way diminish our ability to detect corporate fraud and protect investors. But there appears to be a worrisome trend of corporate leaders focusing inordinate time on compliance minutiae rather than innovative strategies for growth, for fear of facing personal financial penalties from overzealous regulators.

[And], what lessons can we learn from other nations' legal environments? The total value of securities class-action lawsuits in the U.S. has skyrocketed in recent years, to $9.6 billion in 2005 from $150 million in 1997. The U.K. and other nations have laws that far more effectively discourage frivolous suits. It may be time to revisit the best way to reduce frivolous lawsuits without eliminating meritorious ones.

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=Y...zBjYWM1ZThlOTU=

hmmmm.... maybe it needs looked at...

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

hmmmm.... maybe it needs looked at...

It does need looking at. SOX requirements are ridiculously difficult and expensive.

What's really interesting is that Schumer is saying he wants this. I hope this is a signal of how the Democrats will behave once they have the House and/or the Senate. This is a common-sense, pragmatic, non-ideological suggestion ... and coming from Schumer, I find it pleasantly surprising