Supreme Court To Hear Pivotal Sarbanes-Oxley Case Monday, Dec.7

Future of Accounting Regulation and Gov’t Abuse of Power at Stake

Washington, D.C., December 4, 2009—On Monday, December 7th, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear argument in Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, a lawsuit that challenges the constitutionality of much of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

The law, which was rushed through Congress after the Enron and WorldCom scandals, created numerous corporate governance and accounting rules that have been criticized by both Democrats and Republicans as excessively burdensome to smaller companies, detrimental to U.S. competitiveness, and ill-equipped to protect shareholders from fraud.  The decision the Court makes could be more consequential to jobs growth than any job summit politicians might have.

Who: Competitive Enterprise Institute and allies 

What: Oral argument for case challenging the constitutionality of the Sarbanes-Oxley’s Public Company Accounting Oversight Board

Where: U.S. Supreme Court

When: Monday, December 7, 10:00 a.m. 

After the case, CEI attorneys Sam Kazman and Hans Bader and finance scholar John Berlau will be answering questions from the press at the Supreme Court and will be available by phone the rest of the day.

To schedule an interview with an expert on the case, please contact Christine Hall or Richard Morrison.