Bush admits Sarbox damage
US president George Bush signals US U-turn on Sarbanes-Oxley as markets suffer
George
Bush , the US president, has admitted that Sarbanes-Oxley has hurt
the US capital markets.
His comments signal a dramatic U-turn on the onerous regulations, that were
put in place following the Enron scandal.
Bush signed Sarbanes-Oxley into law in 2005, but has now admitted that the
laws have backfired and made the US markets less attractive to investor,
the Times
reports.
In his state of the economy speech Bush said: ‘excessive litigation and
overregulation threaten to make our capital markets less attractive to
investors, especially in the face of rising competition from capital markets
abroad’.
Bush
section
404 of Sarbanes-Oxley had been ‘costly for business’ and may have
discouraged businesses from listing publically.
It is likely that the president’s comments will influence the 70-day debate
on the legislation, which was kicked off in December last year when regualtors
proposed that the Sarbanes-Oxley be watered down.
Further reading:
Poor Sarbox guidance a threat to world’s financial
centre
SEC backs down on foreign company delistings
Can the government protect the economy from Sarbox