Will Free Enterprise Fund v. PCAOB Go Up?
Last Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied the Free Enterprise Fund's petition for rehearing en banc in Free Enterprise Fund v. PCAOB, a challenge to the constitutionality of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board created by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, by a vote of 5-4. Chief Judge Sentelle and Judges Griffith, Kavanaugh, and Ginsburg voted for rehearing. Judges Henderson, Rogers, Tatel, Garland, and Brown voted against. A copy of the order is here. The Fund's attorneys at Jones Day and the Competitive Enterprise Institute promise a petition for certiorari is forthcoming.
Related Posts (on one page):
- The new Sarbanes-Oxley case:
- Early Commentary on Free Enterprise Fund v. PCAOB:
- Breaking: Sarbanes-Oxley to the Supremes:
- Will Free Enterprise Fund v. PCAOB Go Up?
- Rehearing Sought in PCAOB Case:
- Free Enterprise Fund v. PCAOB -- Humphrey's Executor Squared:
- D.C. Circuit Panel Splits 2-1 on Constitutionality of Public Company Accounting Oversight Board:
- More on The Interesting Appointments Clause Issue:
- Interesting Appointments Clause Issue:
SOX slows down the response time of companies, by putting a number of procedural hurdles in the middle of their processes. Friends who work in IT at a SOX-affected company report considerable bureaucracy involved in formerly routine software changes (including software that is not financial in nature).
SOX drives companies to incorporate outside the US.
In the greatest irony, SOX may have been one of the contributors to the meltdown, by causing the sudden insolvency of healthy companies through the required mark-to-market rules. Even so, it didn't do a bit of good in preventing the catastrophe.
Let's hope it gets thrown out.