Easing of U.S. corporate regulations sought

[Robbien]

WASHINGTON: Senior U.S. officials have begun a series of high-level discussions on regulating business with top executives from Wall Street, corporations and major accounting firms. Many of the executives have urged the rollback of laws passed in the wake of the Enron and WorldCom scandals, sought an overhaul of the regulatory system, and asked for limits to liability for government and shareholder lawsuits.

Vice President Dick Cheney spoke at a private dinner attended by the executives and government officials Monday. Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, also addressed the group.

The discussions present an opportunity for leading executives to meet behind closed doors with members of Congress and senior officials before the Bush administration becomes a lame- duck and loses political power in the final months of its term next year.

. . .

Public sessions set for Tuesday were to be led by Paulson and Christopher Cox, the chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. A series of private sessions aimed at developing the administration's formal policies on regulation, the accounting industry and corporate governance will be led by others.

Participants in the discussion include the chief executives of J.P. Morgan Chase, General Electric and the New York Stock Exchange. Also at the meetings were former top U.S. officials, including Robert Rubin, Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration; Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve Board chairman; and Arthur Levitt Jr., Clinton's SEC chairman.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/03/13/business/sarbanes.php

The elite meeting in secret to relax the rules which are suppose to protect the public from robber barons. Of course all proposals presented to the public will be presented under the mask of "helping small business".

[maddezmom]

1. we need to follow this very carefully

[maddezmom]

3. link from yesterday

just to keep them all together :hi:

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/busines...

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.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2763998

[Robbien]

4. One would only be able to follow this closely

if they paid attention to foreign news sources. This article is from the International Herald. The very few articles about this conference in US papers where as dry as toast completely ignoring the fact that the elites of this country are meeting in secret to change the rules that govern them.

[shain from kane]

2. Meeting at Jeckyll Island?

[maddezmom]

5. NYT/AP Paulson Addresses Top Business Leaders

Paulson Addresses Top Business Leaders
E-MailPrint Save

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: March 13, 2007
Filed at 9:31 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Tuesday a balance must be struck between ensuring the competitiveness of financial markets and protecting investors.

Paulson addressed a gathering of top business leaders and former government officials. The conference followed months of campaigning by American business for an easing of laws and regulations established after the Enron debacle.

Paulson said the laws and regulations have been, ''extensive and significant, so it is quite naturally taking time for companies to understand, process and implement the new rules and requirements.''

However, he said, ''the principles behind them have been positive, as have many of the results.''

Panelists included 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. Paulson and Christopher Cox, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, are serving as moderators.

more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Business-Pushes-Back.html

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

6. We still have regulations?

:shrug:

[Robbien]

7. Sure, but the fox is in charge of the henhouse

so right now the SEC is as effective as a limp noodle. But the elite aren't taking any chances and want the rules to change before anyone gets any ideas to get rid of the fox.

[depakid]

8. How many DINO's will sell us out on this?

There are areas where there's proven not to be a dime's worth of difference between significant elements the Democratic party and the far right- and this is surely one of them.

(Waving to Bill Clinton and Joe Lieberman)

[FreeStateDemocrat]

9. Enough too insure continued corporate control of our political process.

[Zorra]

14. Sad but probably true. nt

[Le Taz Hot]

10. K & R

This was chilling: "the discussions present an opportunity for leading executives to meet behind closed doors with members of Congress and senior officials."

There is no reason in hell these discussions should be behind closed doors. Democracy functions best when transparent. These members of Congress are accountable to WE the PEOPLE and their actions while holding public office need to be available for all to see (save for national security). I'm so sick to death of this. WE are the ones who get sold out EVERY time.

:grr:

'Scuze me. I need to take a break and go make something.

[Tempest]

11. Real bad timing for this

In light of the upcoming New Century bankruptcy and the Nortel stock scandal.

[The Backlash Cometh]

12. Here's another crazy idea:

If Dick Cheney is a spokesman for an idea, you can bet the bank that it's a bad idea for the public.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

13. what about Congress?

and state legis. and local councils they are the law makers they must stop the corruption.

[manic expression]

15. This is inherent in capitalism

the bourgeoisie will knock down every barrier between them and increased profit and exploitation. The solution is to destroy capitalism once and for all.

[OneBlueSky]

16. exactly the opposite of what needs to be done . . .

if ever there was a time when corporations needed more and stricter regulation, it is now . . .

[manic expression]

17. But that won't happen anytime soon

regulation always fails because as long as the bourgeoisie are permitted to pursue their aims, they will do these sorts of things. It is impossible to regulate capitalism from a capitalist government, it just doesn't work.

So, what is to be done? We must solve the problem at its source: ending capitalism itself. That is the only way you will see any sort of progress.

[w4rma]

21. You're wrong. (nt)

[manic expression]

22. How so?

history has shown time and again that regulation fails.

[w4rma]

23. You're wrong on that too.

There won't be a Communist revolution. Capitalism isn't going away. Regulation works when the democratic-republic is representative.

[primavera]

24. It certainly works better

I kind of have my doubts about capitalism, but there is no doubt that it can and does work better in an open, representative democracy than it does under our current feudal system of closed door meetings where political favors are exchanged for campaign contributions. I read a book a while back by a UC Berkely economist named Robert Wolensky entitled Rich Democracies. In it, the author observes that European social democratic governments actually have surprisingly close ties to the corporations in their countries, with many public officials coming from corporate backgrounds. But, he stresses, this is not necessarily a bad thing because it goes both ways: many people in the corporate world have also served in public posts, so have some sense for the greater public good and will carry that knowledge with them into their business dealings. He also stresses the importance of public, multi-lateral venues for collaboration between corporations and governments in Europe. Yes, the president of Seimens may get to sit across the table from the Minister of the Economy, but representatives from the labor unions, environmental groups, other corporations, and any other interested parties also get to sit at that same table at the same time. As a result, the corporate presence is but one of many voices being heard, and the entire discussion is being held out in the open for public scrutiny. At that point, everybody gets a little bit of what they want from the discussion. In contrast, Wolensky observes, in the US, individual corporate donors meet one on one with administration and legislative officials behind closed doors and work out corrupt, one-sided deals that advantage a single corporate interest at the expense of everyone else. I don't know whether I buy 100% of his argument - again, I have some reservations about capitalism altogether - but it struck me as an interesting point.

[ProudDad]

28. I think the major difference

is that the whole European society has a public service philosophy behind it. They basically know that they are all in it together (at least most of them -- NOT "new labor" or the Tories in GB). They also have a MUCH stronger working class.

I'm afraid without SERIOUS, STRICT regulation coming from strong pressure from an active working class the capitalist bandits in the U.S.A. have a free run -- as they have for the last 27+ years.

In other words, not bloody likely...


Look southward for the better models... For instance in Venezuela the "weakest class" is currently winning...

[VegasWolf]

18. Step right up and buy your Congress-Critter right now! Huge bargins due to it being so late

into the bush term.

[BluePatriot]

19. translation: "further permission to screw peons sought..."

"...but if you don't let us do it "officially" we'll just donate to a few PACs, work those pesky fines into our budget, and do it anyway..."

[w4rma]

20. No. Absolutely not. (nt)

[fed-up]

25. kick/rec n/t

[johnnyrocket]

26. These guys are trying to pull a fast one!

[ProudDad]

27. I've got a suggestion

Ok, we'll roll back some of these regulations.

And in the same legislation we'll restore the corporate and capital gains taxes on corporations in exchange.

F*ck 'EM!!!