Posted on 07/20/2007 8:06:04 AM PDT by BGHater
Audit Trail recently sat down with 2008 Presidential Candidate Ron Paul, R-TX, to get his views on Sarbanes-Oxley 5 Years Later, as one of only three members of congress at the time to vote against the bill.
Audit Trail: It has been five years since the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley. Has your initial position on the legislation changed, or do you still believe it was an overreaction to a real problem?
Ron Paul: The damage inflicted on American businesses and capitol markets by Sarbanes-Oxley has strengthened my conviction that this legislation should be repealed. In 2000, nine of every ten dollars raised by foreign companies were raised in the United States. In 2005, nine of the ten largest offerings were not registered in the United States, and, of the largest twenty-five global offerings, only one took place in the US. The number of public companies going private increased from 143 in 2001 to 245 in 2004. Sarbanes-Oxley is a, if not the, major reason companies are fleeing America’s capital markets. Furthermore, according to some estimates, Sarbanes-Oxley has cost the very investors the law claims to protect at least $1.4 trillion. How could anyone regret voting against such a harmful bill?
AT: What has been most surprising to you as you look at what has happened since Sarbanes-Oxley was enacted?
RP: The solid consensus that today exists among Representatives of both parties and the regulatory bodies charged with enforcing Sarbanes-Oxley is that this legislation, which Congress overwhelmingly passed and the administration heralded as a great achievement, was poorly drafted and that small businesses need relief from the unintended consequences of the law.
AT: Do you think the recent changes that the SEC and PCAOB have made with respect to SOX 404 will be successful in easing the burden of compliance? Do they go far enough?
RP: No, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s new regulations implementing Section 404 do not go nearly far enough in lifting the unjustified burdens Sarbanes-Oxley imposed on America’s economy.
Sarbanes-Oxley expert John Berlau, director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said of the new rule that “Simply proclaiming that audits should be ‘risk-based’ won’t make them so, as long as the other mandates of this auditing standard remain in place. Auditors and companies will still face potential liability for not looking at every last process that could be deemed an ‘internal control,’ even if it has little relevance for shareholders. And the big accounting firms will also still have the big incentive to find every last ‘internal control’ they can audit and bill for.”
Of course, the regulators can only go so far in relieving the burden of Sarbanes-Oxley; it is up to Congress to correct the mistake it made when it rushed this unconstitutional, anti-prosperity, and anti-liberty bill into law.
AT: Is Sarbanes-Oxley still top of mind for you? Do you follow developments closely?
RP: Reform, or even repeal, of Sarbanes-Oxley remains one of my top priorities. As a member of the House Committee on Financial Services, I intend to continue to be an active participant in the debate over Sarbanes-Oxley and similar legislation.
bttt
London & Hong Kong love Sarbanes Oxley.
For everyone else, it’s a trainwreck.
SOX = The IT Full-Employment Act
RP goes aginst the establishment.
RP proven correct.
Does this mean the establishment was wrong?
Or am I missing something?
This guy is crazy and dangerous. His opposition to the war is one thing, but supporting a move to cut funding for our troops borders on, if it isn't already, criminal.
The only part of government that I want big, is the military, but Ron Paul wants that to be small as well.
You got that right. I have been getting $130/hr for the past 2 years applying SOX controls to Fannie Mae during their restatement.
Don't forget Bangalore too.
Yeah, employment doing meaningless work. There are projects that we don't even bother attempting because the compliance requirements would be too duanting.
Our Bangalore developers have to jump through all the hoops just like we do. This is due to the fact that the software releases happen on American servers, even if the work was done over there.
Yup. gota love it. Keeps this CISSP in Busuness...
Way too much Ron Paul stuff being posted on this website. He’s only getting 1% or less right now folks. Get out of your fantasy world and get real. We have business to do. We have to decide on a real candidate who can get the job done and win the next election. 99% of those polled have repeatedly told you that Ron Paul is not that candidate.
Cool...
Dude, adjust your Spam. We are talking about SOX here.
Aw, but that’s have the fun. Anytime I get bored I pull out COBIT and see what mayhem I can cause, then think better of it as a professional...
I want a big strong defense. Lots of husky young lads defending my freedom. I don’t give a rat’s ass about defending South Korea. Or Iraq for that matter. Let them all kill each other.
have should be half, late night with Microsoft. Expensive date those guys...
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