Corporate Governance Update: Changes in the Boardroom After Enron

摘要

This article supplements an earlier piece by the author last summer chronicling the new corporate governance rules following the Enron debacle and other major corporate scandals over the past few years. This article discusses new rules adopted by the SEC to safeguard against improper influence on the conduct of audits and to require senior management of public companies to stand behind reports filed under the federal securities laws. In addition, this update describes the new listing requirements of the New York Stock Exchange and The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. recently approved by the SEC, which affect the qualifications and operating protocols of listed company boards as well as their key committees. The article concludes with a brief summary of other new rules and rule proposals promulgated by the SEC under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which are intended to restore investor confidence in public companies and in the integrity of their public statements and SEC-filed reports.