Business pushes back against regulation

[maddezmom]

Business pushes back against regulation By MARCY GORDON, AP Business Writer
2 hours, 1 minute ago



WASHINGTON - High-level government officials are listening, and asking the questions, this week as the campaign by business interests for a softening of the laws and rules laid down amid the 2002 corporate scandals gets a serious hearing.

An array of companies and business leaders have been making the case that the requirements spawned by the crisis of corporate malfeasance are overly onerous and costly — and hurt the competitiveness of U.S. financial markets by driving some companies away from them.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Christopher Cox, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, are acting as moderators for panel discussions at an unusual conference on the issue being convened Tuesday by the Treasury Department. The panelists are a cavalcade of heavyweights: legendary billionaire investor Warren Buffett, General Electric Co. Chairman Jeffrey Immelt, brokerage founder and CEO Charles Schwab, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Treasury officials say the purpose of the gathering in Washington, with blue-ribbon participants on both sides of the issue, is to begin a discussion that could lead to policy changes.

~snip~
A second group, formed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is unveiling its report and recommendations Wednesday.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070312/ap_on_bi_ge/business_pushes_back

Key recommendations of U.S. Chamber of Commerce report
Associated Press

Business interests' push to ease rules at hearing
U.S. Chamber of Commerce report The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has been campaigning against what it views as excessive financial regulation hurting U.S. markets' competitiveness, is issuing a report this week by its Commission on the Regulation of U.S. Capital Markets in the 21st Century.

The report urges "quick and decisive adjustments in the U.S. legal and regulatory framework ... to ensure that U.S. investor and business interests are best served in the global marketplace."

Among its key recommendations:

—Congress should enact legislation to expressly give the Securities and Exchange Commission the authority to issue rules and exemptions for various categories of public companies under the Sarbanes-Oxley law, enacted in 2002 in response to the wave of corporate scandals. In addition, the SEC should be restructured and its examiners should be required to keep confidential their communications with financial institutions.

—Public companies should stop issuing earnings guidance or, as an alternative, move away from giving quarterly earnings guidance with an earnings-per-share number toward annual guidance with a range of projected per-share numbers.

more:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/4621194.html

[lligrd]

1. I Feel For Them, Really I Do

:sarcasm:

[maddezmom]

2. I know what you mean

those poor crooks at Enron, etc :sarcasm:



Fastow Sentenced to Six Years in Prison
The substantial reduction from Andrew Fastow's original plea agreement of 10 years reflects the value of the former Enron CFO's testimony against Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling.
Stephen Taub, CFO.com
September 26, 2006
Former Enron Corp. CFO Andrew Fastow was sentenced Tuesday to six years in prison. The sentence is four years less than the 10 years he agreed to under a prior plea deal for his role in the fraud that plunged the one-time energy giant into bankruptcy.

The judge, in the case was not bound by Fastow's agreement with prosecutors. Bloomberg points out that Fastow's sentence came after he provided investors with a statement Monday implicating Enron's former banks in the fraud he orchestrated. It added that investors are suing a number of banks, including Merrill Lynch & Co. and Credit Suisse Group, in a bid to recover $30 billion in stock losses caused by the fraud.

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/7961830/c_7961008?f=TodayInFinance_Inside


FBI Probing 52 Companies over Backdating
In the past two months, the G-men have greatly expanded their investigation of stock options practices.
Stephen Taub, CFO.com
September 26, 2006
The FBI has stepped up its war on backdated stock options.

The federal law enforcement agency is investigating 52 companies that may have illegally backdated options and may open more cases, according to Bloomberg. Chip Burrus, an assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, told the wire service that the number of criminal cases has increased 16 percent in less than two months. "We're going to knock that pretty good," he told Bloomberg in an interview. "We're going to go after those."

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/7962096/c_7961008?f=home_todayinfinance

US Probes Halliburton Deals in Cheney Era
Barbara Ferguson, Arab News

NEW YORK, 15 July 2004 — Vice President Dick Cheney cannot escape his past. The US Treasury Department recently began an investigation into the activities of oil giant Halliburton in Iran during the time it was headed by Cheney.

Investigators are examining documents dating from 1997 and 1998 about a Dubai-based Halliburton subsidiary that received several tender offers from Kala Ltd., a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company.

At question is whether these deals were concluded and if they violated US sanctions against Iran.

The Dallas-based Halliburton Company provides products and services to the petroleum and energy industries to aid in the exploration, development and production of natural resources.

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=48366&d=15&m=7&y=2004