Power point

摘要

Corporate whistleblowers may now have the benefit of legal protection under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the US, and potentially under the new Companies Bill in the UK, but says Sherron Watkins, who famously raised the alarm at Enron, they aren't any more popular. 'I don't see a sea change where corporations welcome whistleblowers,' she says.'Whistleblowing is just a bad name.' Only last November, she adds incredulously, a well-known US law firm in Houston held a half-day seminar on the whistleblowing provisions in Sarbanes-Oxley, pointedly entitled 'The corporation under siege'. 'Just think about what that's saying! It's saying "Those nasty ass whistleblowers - they're after us and here's how you can protect yourself against these whistleblower sanctions" That's the attitude.' Certainly Watkins-whose high-flying accountancy career includes spells at both Andersen and Enron - is resigned to the fact she will never have a traditional corporate job again, and is pursuing a new career writing books and public speaking. Enron is, of course, the hot topic.