Regulation and Bonding: The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Flow of International Listings

In this paper, we examine the economic impact of the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act (SOX) by analyzing foreign listing behavior onto U.S. and U.K. stock exchanges before and after the enactment of SOX in 2002. Using a sample of all listing events onto U.S. and U.K. exchanges from 1995–2006, we develop an exchange choice model that captures firm‐level, industry‐level, exchange‐level, and country‐level listing incentives, and test whether these listing preferences changed following the enactment of SOX. After controlling for firm characteristics and other economic determinants of these firms' exchange choice, we find that the listing preferences of large foreign firms choosing between U.S. exchanges and the London Stock Exchange's (LSE) Main Market did not change following the enactment of SOX. In contrast, we find that the likelihood of a U.S. listing among small foreign firms choosing between the NASDAQ and LSE's Alternative Investment Market decreased following the enactment of SOX. The negative effect among small firms is consistent with these marginal companies being less able to absorb the incremental costs associated with SOX compliance. The screening of smaller firms with weaker governance attributes from U.S. exchanges is consistent with the heightened governance costs imposed by SOX increasing the bonding‐related benefits of a U.S. listing.     

美国萨班斯法案的执行成本

2001年,美国安然、世通、施乐等一些大型上市公司的财务欺诈案件,严重挫伤了投资者对资本市场的信心,政府监管部门的形象也受到很大影响,美国经济因此遭受严重打击。为了恢复投资者对资本市场的信心,重塑政府形象,提高上市公司的信息披露质量,美国国会修订出台了《萨班斯—奥克斯利法案》(以下简称SOX法案)。在SOX法案的众多条款中,对公司影响最大争论最多的是第404条款。针对SOX法案第404条款的意见主要有两种:一种意见认为,该条款对改善公司治理、防范风险、保护社会公众利益的积极性产生了积极作用;另一种意见认为,其执行成本和效率的矛盾、监管力度和市场平衡的矛盾所导致的实施中的困难也是现实存在的。那么究竟SOX法案实施多年后的今天,其执行成本如何?本文利用已有的经验数据对这一问题进行分析。     

萨班斯法案的立法理念及影响刍议

萨班斯法案突出“以刑治市”的基本理念，标志着美国资本市场全面进入“依法治市”时代，使“依法治市”无论在理念上还是在实践上都得到了全面的贯彻和落实。本文从法律角度分析了该法案的影响及其揭示的资本市场发展和法制建设的一般规律，为我国资本市场发展及其法制建设提出相关建议．     

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the private company discount: An empirical investigation

While criticism of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) typically focuses on its negative impact on small public companies, this study uses acquisition data to empirically investigate whether the Sarbanes-Oxley Act impacts the value of private firms. This study presents strong evidence that the private firm discount was greater post-SOX. The evidence represents support for the argument that SOX has been more detrimental for private companies than for public companies.     

Sarbanes-Oxley Act and corporate credit spreads

Stock market reaction suggests that despite improved disclosure and increased accountability, Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) is too costly and not beneficial. Noting that bondholders are likely to reap the many potential benefits of SOX without bearing the brunt of costs, we examine how SOX affected corporate credit spreads to better assess its benefits. SOX has led to a significant structural decline in spreads of at least 27 basis points. Riskier firms (low rating, long maturity, high leverage, and small size) and firms closely related to SOX major provisions (earning variability, managerial trading, and corporate governance) experience greater declines in spreads.     

萨班斯法案404条款:后续进展

2002年萨班斯-奥克斯利法案 404条款发布之后, 美国证券交易委员会 (SEC) 通过制定规则, 为CEO和CFO对主体财务呈报内部控制和披露控制的报告提供指南; 公众公司会计监管委员会通过为注册会计师制定审计准则, 直接影响注册会计师该类审计合约的计划与实施; COSO委员会制定内部控制标准框架, 作为管理当局和注册会计师进行内部控制评价的基础。本文主要对SEC规则、第 2号审计准则和COSO委员会最新的内部控制框架 (即ERM) 作一介绍, 以期为我国监管机构在上市公司内部控制制度的强制性规定方面提供借鉴。     

The Impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on the Structure of REIT Boards of Directors

The changes in the board structure for REITs for the period 1999?C2005 are presented. Post-SOX REIT boards have changed primarily in the form of greater independence, as fewer REIT boards are led by their CEOs due to SOX. In the relation between Post-SOX board structure and performance, the results show no improvement in performance for REITs whose boards have a majority of preferred features. That is, REITs with small boards, majority of outside directors, and not led by their CEOs do not perform better than their counterparts. These results provide additional fuel for the debate on the benefits and costs of SOX.     

萨班斯法案的实施环境与CEO会计责任的追究——以南方保健公司前CEO法庭审理为例

本文以美国南方保健公司前CEO斯克鲁西的法庭审理为例,从公司高管人员的信息权利和信息优势分析CEO的会计责任,讨论萨班斯法案以及法律对惩治公司会计舞弊的作用、探讨营造良好的法律实施环境的重要性。     

《萨班斯-奥克斯利法》对完善我国上市公司审计委员会制度的影响

我国上市公司的审计委员会制度无论在法律规定还是在实践中,都处于初期阶段,有待于成熟和规范.本文通过对《萨班斯-奥克斯利法案》中美国较为成熟的审计委员会制度的变革过程及变革成果的认识,在分析我国上市公司审计委员会制度实施环境和存在问题的基础上,对完善我国上市公司审计委员会制度提出合理建议.     

美国法学界对《萨班斯-奥克斯利法案》的评价

2002年,美国国会发布了《萨班斯-奥克斯利法案》(Sarbanes-OxleyActof2002)。该法案涉及了美国证券市场治理的各个方面。对于注册会计师行业而言,审计独立性被放到了该法案的重要位置。深入分析该法案中有关注册会计师审计的规定,有助于我们评价该法案对独立审计制度的影响及其     

美国萨班斯法案与中国企业内部控制制度自强化机制的构想

文章运用信息不对称理论和机制设计理论,分析美国萨班斯法案的建构逻辑与执行偏差,并通过大量文献的研究结果加以佐证。随后从制度文化、制度设计和执行机制三个方面,指出目前我国企业内部控制制度执行力方面存在的问题及自强化机制建设的构想。     

萨班斯法案致使上市公司产生退市打算的原因

美国颁布实施萨班斯法案,迄今已经三年了。其中某些严苛的规定致使许多上市公司产生了退市的打算,据笔者的了解,主要表现在两个方面:一方面,美国国内的很多上市公司,尤其是中小上市公司,权衡了遵守萨班斯法案中有关公司治理规定的成本与进入资本市场的好处后,选择了退出资本市场。根据美国宾夕法尼亚大学沃顿商学院的统计,1999年美国股市中的退市公司仅有30家,2004年升至135家。而Foley&Lardner律师事务所2004年5月公布的一项调查也显示,在超过100家接受调查的上市公司中,约有20%的公司因法规负担加重而考虑退市。另一方面,相当一部分在美…     

The unexpected benefits of Sarbanes-Oxley

In the wake of a series of gross corporate abuses around the turn of the century, Congress passed Sarbanes-Oxley, which was intended to make corporate governance more rigorous, financial practices more transparent, and management criminally liable for lapses. The first year of implementation was costly and onerous, far more so than companies had been led to expect. In the view of a few open-minded firms, however, the second year of compliance turned out to be not only less costly and less onerous (as doing something for the second time usually turns out to be), but a source of valuable insights into operations, which management has translated into improved efficiencies and cost savings. The areas of improvement go well beyond technical statutory compliance. They include a strengthened control environment; more reliable documentation; increased audit committee involvement; better, less burdensome compliance with other statutory regimes; more standardized processes for IT and other functions; reduced complexity oforganizational processes; better internal controls within partner companies; and more effective use of both automated and manual controls. The result is not only shareholder protection, the official purpose of the act, but also enhanced shareholder value. More than a year since the first deadline arrived, Sarbanes-Oxley still inspires fear--of enforcement actions, of the stock market's reaction to a deficiency, and of personal liability. Fear can be a powerful generator of upstanding conduct. But businesses run on discovering and creating value. Companies need to start viewing Sarbanes-Oxley as an ally in that effort.     

The Sarbanes-Oxley act and corporate investment: A structural assessment

We assess the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 on corporate investment in an investment Euler equation framework. We allow a dummy for the passage of the Act to affect the rate at which managers discount future investment payoffs. Using generalized method of moments estimators, we find that the rate U.S. firm managers apply to discount investment projects rises significantly after 2002, while the discount rate for U.K. firms remains unchanged. The effects of the legislation on corporate investment are asymmetric, and are much more significant among relatively small firms. We also find that well-governed firms, firms with a credit rating, and accelerated filers of Section 404 of the Act have become more cautious about investment.     

Sarbanes-Oxley and the Future of Accounting

Following the Enron debacle, massive public pressure led the United States government to enact the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. While this act was intended to protect investors and improve the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures, it also contained provisions which could have a major impact on the public accounting profession in the United States. It is possible that these effects could extend to Australia, where the public accounting profession is also subject to scrutiny following revelations of corporate misconduct. This paper explores the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act relating to the accounting profession, the reaction of the profession and possible ramifications for public accounting in Australia.     

《萨班斯-奥克斯利法案》对我国银行赴美上市的影响

《萨班斯-奥克斯利法案》也即《2002年上市公司会计改革与投资者保护法案》。本文首先介绍了该法案出台的背景,详细阐述了该法案的整体内容框架,并以此为基础,就该法案对已在和即将在美国挂牌上市的美国本土企业和外国企业在公司外部治理、内部治理及信息披露等诸多方面将产生的影响进行了深入的剖析。鉴于《萨班斯-奥克斯利法案》的执行要求繁琐、执行成本高昂、责任追溯严格,而我国商业银行现阶段的公司治理和信息披露水平又与该法案的要求存在着较大差距。因此,本文认为在当前阶段,国内商业银行以正式挂牌的方式赴美上市尚不现实。     

跨境上市的理念

随着科技进步和资本自由流动减轻国际市场相互隔离的障碍,全球权益市场的结构在最近几十年里发生了重大变化。但是,尽管投资者现在可以更为便捷地进入外国资本市场,地域却并没有变得毫无意义。阻碍国际资本流动的因素依然存在,诸如对资本流动和外国所有权的法律限制、交易成本和获取境外上市企业信息的成本以及对于外国特定地区投资者保护的担心等等。     

境外上市经济学

据世界证券交易所联合会(World Federation of Exchanges)统计,1996年其会员交易所中外资股的交易额为1．37万亿美元,占总交易额的比率为8．76％,到2005年,这两项数字分别达到了5．76万亿美元和11．28％,表明外资股在境外交易所中的活跃度日益增强。本刊美国特约编辑杰姆斯·巴茨(James Barth)博士推荐此稿,两位作者分别为美国萨佛克大学(Suffolk University)金融副教授和伊丽莎白城学院(Elizabethtown College)金融助理教授,他们在文中简要分析了境外上市的好处和成本,意在为即将或已经赴境外上市的中国各家银行提供些参考。