Businesses Prepare to Mount a Concerted Attack on Regulation

[cal04]

Call it the end of the post-Enron era.

A major anti-regulatory offensive culminates this week with a one-two punch thrown by Washington and Wall Street's most moneyed institutions, as the Treasury Department convenes a star-studded meeting tomorrow and the nation's largest business lobby issues its own call to action a day later.

At the top of the agenda are ways to "secure America's competitiveness."

Translation: Burdensome rules, costly litigation and hard-nosed prosecutors are killing U.S. companies.

(snip)
Two discussions are open to the public. But afternoon sessions that focus on the alleged threat of investor lawsuits, possible new legal protections for accounting firms and reining in the tough tactics of securities enforcers are for elite members only.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/11/AR2007031101197.html

[Demoiselle]

1. The alleged threat of investor lawsuits? WHAT?

Just who, exactly do investor lawsuits threaten? Incompetent management perhaps? Oh dear. We mustn't have that! Cheesh!

[Fresh_Start]

2. They're complaining about investor lawsuits?

Last time I checked, investors are the owners of the businesses. Go private, get rid of investors and while you're at it....leave the country if you can't handle regulation and oversight.

[barb162]

3. Halliburton is going to Dubai, Accenture already left. etc

[lostinacause]

4. To some extent they have a point. Regulations should be made

more efficient. At the same time they need to remain effective. While we can be sure that the companies will try to reduce the effectiveness of the regulation, hopefully the end result of these meetings will be more efficient regulation without hurting the effectiveness of the regulations. Better regulation would benefit everybody.