Capitol Hill Briefing 

# The State of Corporate Governance: A Retrospective on Sarbanes-Oxley 

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[Read Alan Reynold’s speech (pdf)](/events/sarbanes-oxley.pdf)

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Date and Time 

December 12, 2003 1 - 2:30 PM EST 

Location 

Gold Room, Rayburn House Office Building 

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##### Featuring 

Featuring **William A. Niskanen**, Chairman, Cato Institute; and **Alan Reynolds**, Senior Fellow, Cato Institute. 

In reaction to the Enron and WorldCom scandals, Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley accounting and corporate governance law in July 2002. Has this law really done much to prevent future scandals? Has it had the promised soothing effect on investor confidence? Or has Sarbanes-Oxley merely deflected attention from the real causes of frauds and bankruptcies while giving rise to unanticipated adverse consequences? Our experts will caution that Congress is rushing to enact additional stifling regulations of the way U.S. corporations compensate their executives and recommend that resources are better spent examining the root causes of economic and financial trauma.

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