Reply #20: Pro-Business Group (Ken Starr) challenges anti-fraud law (Sarbanes-Oxley)

[UpInArms]

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/business/13819356.htm

WASHINGTON - A law that reshaped the accounting industry after a wave of corporate scandals is being challenged on constitutional grounds by pro-business conservatives.

Their big-guns legal team includes Kenneth Starr, best known as the special prosecutor in the Monica Lewinsky affair. Bitterly opposed to the sweeping anti-fraud law, the conservatives are challenging the board established to oversee the accounting industry, arguing that it violates the Constitution's mandated separation of powers among the three branches of government.

The Free Enterprise Fund, an anti-tax group that seeks limited government, filed suit Tuesday in federal court in Washington against the accounting board, known as the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

Christi Harlan, a spokeswoman for the board, said she had no immediate comment because the board hadn't seen the lawsuit.

The anti-fraud law, known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for its congressional sponsors, could be invalidated if any of its sections is found unconstitutional. Opponents want it sent back to Congress for a revision.

The 2002 law, among other things, required greater financial disclosures and increased the criminal penalties for securities fraud.

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Now why would they want to do that? Because they want to lie, cheat, steal and rip people off with no consequences!