Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Syms and the Future of Sarbanes-Oxley

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act has many detractors. They claim that the Act is an over-burdensome piece of regulation, one that has imposed costly and unneeded obligations on issuers. It has driven U.S. companies to exit the public markets and “go private,” and it has deterred non-U.S. companies from raising capital and listing in the United States.

Proponents of Sarbanes-Oxley counter that these arguments are overheated. Though the benefits of Sarbanes-Oxley are hard to quantify it has increased public confidence in the markets and arguably lessened accounting fraud and numbers “manipulation.” Even many proponents, though, acknowledge that the act needs some tweaking particularly with respect to the burdens it imposes on smaller companies.

The recent dispute surrounding Syms has provided these proponents some additional anecdotal evidence. On Dec. 21, the discount retailer announced that it would delist its shares from the New York Stock Exchange. Thereafter Syms shares would trade over-the-counter on the pink sheets.

Syms and the Future of Sarbanes-Oxley

Labels: Committee on Capital Markets, delisting, pink sheets

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Wednesday, March 05, 2008

A Word From Ron Paul

Trailwatch reached out to each of the remaining presidential campaigns and offered them an unedited forum in which they could address voters. As he was when we requested information for our Candidate Screener, Ron Paul was the first candidate to respond to our offer. We asked each campaign to submit 500 to 1,000 words on the issues they believe are the most important ones facing the nation at this moment in time. Here is what Ron Paul had to say.

... One of the most damaging regulations imposed on the American people is the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act. A survey by Financial Executives International put the
average cost of compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley at $4.4 million, while the
American Economics Association estimates the Act could cost American companies
as much as $35 billion. A study by the prestigious Wharton Business School found
that the number of American companies delisting from public stock exchanges
nearly tripled the year after Sarbanes-Oxley became law. One of the best things
Congress could do for the American economy is to repeal this damaging
legislation.

A Word From Ron Paul

Labels: candidate, delisting, Financial Executives International, Ron Paul

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