Hewitt denies lobbying against Sarbanes-Oxley
Trade and Industry minister Patricia Hewitt has denied lobbying against the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, in response to an audience member's comment on the BBC show Question Time.
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On last night’s show, a member of the audience accused the minister of ‘campaigning’ against the act.
But Hewitt strongly denied this, saying: ‘Of course I did not campaign against the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.’
But, she went on to claim Britain had ‘very strong accounting rules’, better than the ones the Americans had before Sarbanes-Oxley.
‘Any multinational based here has to abide by them. And we are looking at whether they need further strengthening,’ Hewitt added.
She said the problem with the Act, which ‘had been passed extremely quickly’ was that it was going to have an effect on a whole host of companies’ that were already abiding by very strict standards’.
The extra-territorial features of Sarbanes-Oxley have been the main reason why foreign regulators and companies have lobbied for amendments to be made to the Act.