WP: Treasury Secretary Paulson Says Business Is Over-Regulated: Still Backs Sarbanes-Oxley

[DeepModem Mom]

Paulson Says Business Is Over-Regulated
Treasury Chief Still Backs Sarbanes-Oxley
By Carrie Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 21, 2006; Page D01

Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. yesterday criticized the nation's "ever-expanding rulebook" and its burdensome legal system for constraining the economy but rejected wholesale revisions to a corporate accountability law under attack from business groups.

Paulson, a former chairman of the investment bank Goldman Sachs, called for striking a regulatory balance as he delivered his first major policy address on the subject since joining the government in July. "Excessive regulation slows innovation, imposes needless costs on investors, and stifles competitiveness and job creation," he said in a speech to the Economic Club of New York.

But under questioning, Paulson stood behind the controversial Sarbanes-Oxley law, passed in 2002 after financial scandals rocked the stock market and devastated investor confidence. Policymakers do not need to reopen the law, Paulson said. Instead, he expressed confidence in the work of securities regulators and accounting industry overseers, who are racing to make audit rules more flexible for small businesses that have complained about the regulations' cost. The eagerly awaited proposed revisions are to be unveiled within weeks, Christopher Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, has said....

Paulson's remarks come as trade groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce exhort lawmakers and regulators to retool corporate rules, which they contend are leading fewer companies to list on U.S. exchanges. A chamber-affiliated coalition led by William M. Daley, who was an official during Bill Clinton's presidency, and A.B. Culvahouse, counsel to former president Reagan, issued data yesterday that they said reflected a decade-long decline in market share of corporate listings in the United States.

Some consumer advocates warn that tighter rules make for a convenient scapegoat. Barbara Roper of the Consumer Federation of America pointed to other factors, including steep investment banking fees and changes in the global economy, for the dip in U.S. public offerings....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/20/AR2006112001325.html

[AnneD]

1. Uh...

the rules were created to prevent shady accounting that brought about Enron. Have CEO's suddenly become honest?

[marmar]

2. Wow, another corporate shill in the Bush administration. I'm shocked.

Looks like the cash-and-carry government will continue.

[aquart]

3. Don't repeal the law, just ignore it. How Bush-like.