Christopher Byron’s column in today’s New York Post asks why ousted members of Congress try so hard to land seats on corporate boards when they typically land positions on penny-stock companies in an age when Sarbanes-Oxley has upped the risks of sitting on a board. But the analysis is mostly backward looking and not half cynical enough.
Look, do you think it’s just a coincidence that members of Congress want board seats and managed to raise the cost of sitting on a corporate board? Sure it is. By raising the costs through SOX penalties, Congressmen have probably freed up a few seats on corporate boards for themselves. But that's just an "unintended consequence" of the legislation, of course.
Posted by harvey swanson, Nov 13, 2006 11:31AM
every time i see a sabanes oxley headline, i think somebody somewhere should roll out a line of t-shirts and bumper stickers that says "[job title at a public firm]s do it with their SOX on" or some variation.