House committee pushes bill to strengthen financial markets

<p>WASHINGTON – The House Financial Services Committee held a hearing last week to discuss a bill introduced by Committee Chairman Michael G. Oxley (R-Ohio) and Capital Markets Subcommittee Chairman Richard H. Baker (R-La.) to enhance investor confidence in the accounting profession and capital markets in response to the Enron collapse. The Corporate and Auditing Accountability, Responsibility, and Transparency Act (CAARTA) or H.R. 3763, would “ensure the highest standards” of auditor independence, ethics and competence and establish a public regulatory oversight board for accounting of publicly traded companies, Oxley said. Companies would have to provide the public with more information about their financial condition, and do so on a real-time basis. “This bill is a comprehensive and practical solution to strengthen the overall financial system,” Oxley said. “It will help to prevent future Enrons without crushing the entire business sector with endless government. The free market system will emerge stronger than ever before.” At press time, those scheduled to testify were Marc Lackritz, president, Securities Industry Association; Barry Melancon, president/CEO, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants; James Glassman, resident fellow, American Enterprise Institute; Ted White, director of corporate governance, California Public Employees’ Retirement System; Roderick Hills, former chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission; Barbara Roper, director of investor protection, Consumer Federation of America and Lynn Turner, director, Center for Quality Financial Reporting.</p>