WASHINGTON (AFX) - A group of high-level business executives and academic experts will examine the competitive impact of laws and rules enacted in response to the wave of corporate scandals of recent years.
The formation of the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, described as an independent group of business, legal, investor advocate and academic figures, comes as business interests have asserted that some of the rules are too onerous and should be softened.
The group 'will conduct a major study of how to improve the competitiveness of the U.S. public capital markets' and will make recommendations to policymakers for specific changes in laws and regulations by the end of November, it said Tuesday in a news release.
The panel will be headed by Glenn Hubbard, a former economic adviser in the Bush administration who now is the dean of Columbia University's business school, and John L. Thornton, chairman of the Brookings Institution think tank and a former Wall Street executive.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson praised the undertaking. The competitiveness of U.S. capital markets 'is important to the future of the American economy and a priority for me,' he was quoted as saying in the group's news release. 'I look forward to reviewing their findings and ideas.'
Among other areas, the group plans to make recommendations for changes to a key requirement of the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley anti-fraud law: the requirement for companies to file reports on the strength of their internal financial controls and fix any problems. The Securities and Exchange Commission decided last spring not to exempt smaller public companies from the requirement, resisting entreaties from business interests that complained about the costs of compliance.
The SEC said it will take a series of actions meant to improve the way the law works, although ultimately all public companies will be required to comply.
SEC spokesman John Nester said Tuesday that agency officials 'are prepared to share their expertise with the (new) committee as appropriate and look forward to the final report.'
'We are always interested in examining how best to protect investors and facilitate capital formation,' Nester said.
Other areas of interest for the new group are class-action lawsuits against companies and executives and directors, and criminal prosecution of companies by the government.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, meanwhile, has been waging a legal assault against what it views as excessive regulation since the 2002 corporate scandals, suing the SEC over rules and scoring several victories in high courts.
Members of the new committee include Samuel DiPiazza, chief executive officer of accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP; former Commerce Secretary Donald Evans, who heads the Financial Services Forum industry lobbying group; Robert Glauber, former chairman and CEO of the National Association of Securities Dealers, who is a visiting professor at Harvard Law School; Charles O. Holliday, chairman and CEO of DuPont Co.; Cathy Kinney, president and co-chief operating officer of the New York Stock Exchange; Steve Odland, chairman and CEO of Office Depot Inc., and Leonard Schaeffer, founding chairman of WellPoint Health Network.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.