As the dot-com boom turned to bust at the dawn of the 21st Century, the resulting recession was exacerbated by several major accounting and corporate governance scandals at large public companies including Enron, WorldCom and Tyco. Executives were revealed to have been, in effect, robbing their own companies, depriving shareholders of money that was rightfully theirs.
Such scandals eroded investor confidence in accounting practices, financial disclosure, and public corporations more generally. In response, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 ("SOX" or the "Act") was enacted to restore lost confidence. Introducing accounting and other governance reforms, the Act represents the most far-reaching reform to the securities laws since the 1930s.
On the fifth anniversary of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act's enactment, the University of Maryland School of Law will bring together academics, practitioners, and leaders in the business community. Together, they will analyze the Act's impact and discuss the issues that will facilitate and hinder its future effectiveness.
The brochure for the 2007 symposium can be found here.