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"No
More Enrons" Consumer and Investor Bill of Rights
Markets should
pick winners and losers, not cheaters. Consumers and investors as
well as employees and taxpayers need tough laws and tough rules
to guarantee that their investments are protected. This "No
More Enrons Bill of Rights" gives us the tools we need to watch
the watchdogs and fight back. We urge Congress to:
1. Ban Audit
Accountants From Selling Consulting Services: Auditors are "public
watchdogs," yet most earned more money from selling consulting
services to their clients than from audits. Congress should ban
accountants from selling non-audit related consulting services to
their audit clients. More.
2. Close The Accountant Revolving Doors And Rotate The Accountants:
Enron's financial department was chock-full of former Arthur Andersen
accountants. Congress should ban auditors from working for clients
for at least two years following an audit. In addition, audit firms
should be rotated at least every seven years, so companies benefit
from a fresh look at their books. More.
3. Create
Independent Regulatory Oversight Agency For Accounting Industry:
No truly independent agency with the authority, power, or will to
enforce penalties against illegal or unethical conduct watches the
watchdogs. More.
4. Increase The SEC Budget: We also need to beef up the Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC) budget. More and more Americans are
investors, yet Congress and the administration have refused to increase
the SEC budget or staff to keep up with all the accounting tricks
companies are using today to mask their deficiencies and inflate
their values to deceive investors. More.
5. Prevent Financial Fraud: Repeal The Accountant Immunity Act
Of 1995: Despite the lessons of the 1980's savings and loan
debacle, Congress overrode a Presidential veto to enact 1995 legislation,
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, making it difficult
or impossible to sue accountants or companies for most securities
fraud violations. Congress should repeal the PLSRA. More.
6. Protect Employees 401(k) And Pension Investments: Enron
CEO Ken Lay told employees to keep on investing in Enron stock while
he was furiously dumping his own holdings. Congress should enact
legislation guaranteeing greater protections for employee retirement
accounts. Employees need to have retirement investments that are
diversified across many industry sectors, with investments in their
own firm capped to avoid catastrophic consequences of under-diversification.
Employees shouldn't be prohibited by management from selling off
their company shares. Employees need a guarantee that their retirement
accounts are being managed in their own interest, not the company's
interest. Companies should be punished for actions that deceive
employees or otherwise take advantage of their captive investor
status. More coming soon...
7. End Financial Conflicts Of Interest: Congress needs to
ensure that company boards, securities analysts, investment bankers
and credit rating agencies don't have conflicts of interest that
cause them to fail to do their jobs. More coming soon...
8. Close The "Anything Goes" Accounting Loopholes And
Regulate All Transactions: Enron and other companies rely on
loopholes in accounting rules to keep its liabilities hidden in
off-the-books, offshore partnerships. Enron and other companies
use loopholes to make their accounting statements say whatever they
want them to say. Congress needs to make sure that all material
facts are disclosed and disclosed clearly. More.
9. Pass Energy Reforms That Give Us A Cleaner, Smarter, Energy
Future: Enron-backed electricity deregulation in California
and other states has not benefited consumers: Instead, we must maintain
and strengthen local governance over all aspects of the energy industry.
We need policies that place greater scrutiny on the energy industry
to assure accountability. There must be greater public control at
the state and local level. More.
10. Get Big Money Out Of Politics: Already this year, Congress
has enacted, and the President has signed, a weak campaign finance
proposal that will actually allow Ken and Linda Lay to contribute
more in hard money alone than they contributed in hard and soft
money combined. Instead, Congress should have lowered campaign contribution
limits, not raised them. The new law won't stop big money from influencing
elections and the political process. More.
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