|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
Thursday July 25, 2002 |
| CONTACT:
Colleen Kroll |
(202)
225-5235 |
"BOYD VOTES TO PROTECT INVESTORS "
WASHINGTON: Today, the House of Representatives
overwhelmingly passed tough corporate reform
legislation that creates a strong, independent
oversight board and increases civil and criminal
penalties on corporate wrongdoers. Congressman
Allen Boyd (D-North Florida), voted in favor of
the House-Senate conference report on corporate
reform, which passed in the House by a vote of
423-3. The conference report will likely be
passed in the Senate at some point today, and
sent to the President to be signed into law
tomorrow.
One aspect of the conference report calls for the
creation of a Public Auditing Regulatory Board,
which will end the self-policing practices of the
accounting profession and give the board
investigative and disciplinary powers over audit
firms, subject to SEC review. Also in the
conference report are new corporate responsibility
standards; including holding CEOs accountable for
honest bookkeeping; barring wrongdoing officers
and directors from moving company to company;
prohibiting corporations from making insider loans
to their executives; requiring timely reports when
corporate insiders dump stock; banning CEOs from
selling stock during blackouts; and requiring real
time disclosure of financial information.
Additionally, the conference report imposes tough
criminal penalties for corporate wrongdoing. This
includes criminal penalties for securities fraud
and for altering, destroying, or failure to
maintain documents, while also giving shareholders
adequate time to pursue securities fraud. The
conference report provides whistleblower
protections to employees of publicly traded
companies, protecting them when they disclose
information or otherwise assist criminal
investigators, federal regulators, Congress,
supervisors, or parties in a judicial proceeding
in detecting and stopping fraud. Finally, the
conference report includes a provision that will
ensure that civil penalties and fines will go to
compensate victims of securities fraud, including
employees of failed corporations that held
securities.
"The American people must have confidence in our
financial markets; and in the free enterprise
system, it's the only way to ensure the strength
of the economy," said Congressman Boyd. "I believe
this bill will help begin the process of restoring
that confidence in our markets, and will protect
investors from the type of corporate malfeasance
that has become so prevalent over the past
months." |
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