Enron was a bombshell amidst the financial community when it hit, but, unlike a conventional weapon, it has acted more like an atomic bomb. For instance, there were numerous casualties when it first exploded, especially among those closest to the company. There also was a huge shockwave that affected companies and people far from the epicenter. Probably the most insidious effect of this debacle, however, is the fallout that continues to affect everyone, specifically, the regulatory burden, and associated costs, of complying with Sarbanes-Oxley. Even if you buy into the necessity of SOX, which I don’t, one has to question the cost/benefit trade-off of what is being achieved.
While there has been massive complaining and some half-hearted attempts at challenging the constitutionality of the SOX legislation, nothing much has been accomplished – at least, until now. Everyone running a small to mid-size, public leasing company should be cheered by a new bill introduced by Representative Tom Feeney and Senator Jim DeMint that is intended to ease the SOX requirements for small companies.
