John Sarbanes: “I think the Senate is about to take a major step to contributing to the restoration of investor confidence. This…”

“I think the Senate is about to take a major step to contributing to the restoration of investor confidence. This legislation establishes a strong independent board to oversee auditors of the public companies. The board can set standards, investigate, and discipline accountants. It will be overseen by the SEC, but it will have independent funding and membership. I think this marks the end of weak self-regulation with respect to public company auditors. It addresses pervasive conflicts of interest by ensuring auditor independence by restricting them from providing a defined list of consulting services. Other consulting services on the part of the auditor can be permitted if preapproved by the company's audit company. This legislation strengthens corporate responsibility. It establishes safeguards to protect investment/analyst conflicts, and it gives the SEC expanded staff resources so it has the resources to carry out its mandate of protecting investors in this critical time. It is no exaggeration to say the crisis in our markets has put the plans and hopes and dreams of millions of Americans at risk. To restore market integrity on which investor confidence depends, we should move expeditiously to move this legislation into law.”