Treasury Secretary Wants More CEO Accountability
siliconinvestor.com
Feb 5 9:42am ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, speaking as the Enron
scandal unfolds, said on Tuesday the Bush administration would push for more
accountability from corporate chieftains in a planned revamp of business disclosure
requirements.
"The key is accountability and responsibility for corporate officers and directors,
accountants and auditors. We are committed to the president's call to hold corporate
America to the 'highest standards of conduct,"' O'Neill said in testimony prepared for
delivery to the Senate Banking Committee.
"I am confident that the working group's recommendations will point the way to
strengthening our disclosure regime," he said.
The Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange
Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, have been charged by
President Bush with finding ways to close loopholes in the nation's corporate
accounting system in the wake of the collapse for former energy trading giant Enron
Corp. .
O'Neill's remarks came a day after the Wall Street Journal reported the Treasury chief
favored barring executives from using insurance to cover the costs of shareholder
lawsuits.
A ban on that type of insurance would be important "so there is no ambiguity about the
responsibility of executive officers -- that they have a responsibility to know and a
responsibility to share" information with shareholders, the paper quoted O'Neill as
saying.
In his testimony on Tuesday, O'Neill also urged schools to take up financial literacy
within the framework of teaching basic reading and math skills.
"Teaching a child how to balance a checkbook reinforces basic addition and
subtraction. Learning how to calculate compound interest provides an excellent way to
exercise knowledge of percentages," he said. |
