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Looking Back And Looking Forward: Sarbanes-Oxley And The Future Of Corporate Governance, Scott Harshbarger, Goutam U. Jois

Goutam U Jois

Corporate governance has received significant media attention over the past few years. From the spectacular bankruptcies of Enron and WorldCom to the white-collar criminal trials of Kenneth Lay, Martha Stewart, and Bernie Ebbers, Americans watched Corporate America hit one of its lowest points. Fraud, self-dealing and deception, among other “worst practices,” seem to have become widespread. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was passed in 2002 in reaction to those corporate scandals, but its future is now uncertain. All debates hinge on two fundamental assumptions: that business leaders and regulators are natural enemies and that one of those groups must be “right” and …