Sarbanes-Oxley News & Developments
Sarbanes-Oxley: SEC vs. LawyersSEC plans to require lawyers to blow the whistle on corporate financial misconduct.
> > This so-called "noisy withdrawal" requirement, first proposed last fall, was so controversial that the SEC postponed a vote on the matter in January. The legal bar assailed the rule as an assault on the hallowed notion that what clients tell their attorneys is confidential.
With such stiff opposition, the SEC in January proposed an alternative rule that would require the corporation, rather than the lawyer, to report a lawyer`s resignation. The agency said that would alleviate concerns about lawyers violating attorney-client privilege.
But to the American Bar Association and other lawyer groups, the alternative has the same shortcomings. Instead of requiring SEC notification, an ABA task force on corporate governance recommended voluntary disclosure to an outside party in cases involving continuing crime or financial fraud. The ABA plans to meet next month to vote on this proposal.
Source: Hoover`s
Published:2003-08-06
|
