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To: Dealer who wrote (53298)	6/28/2002 3:31:25 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 65232

<< wish they would start slapping one right after the other behind bars>> Dealer: I couldn't agree more...Its amazing how we treat those that steal, murder or rape MUCH differently than we treat rich white collar criminals. Its time to change our standards. IMO, we've had several decades of erosion of ethical values in Corporate America -- its like a cancer and it needs to be cut out. This will require Presidential leadership and tough decisions by Congress. It will be amazing if they step up to the plate and do the right things. The future and integrity of our markets are at stake though. JMHO. regards, -Scott

To: Dealer who wrote (53298)	6/28/2002 5:17:04 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 65232

WORLDCOM: TRENT LOTT'S ENRON Message 17667755

To: Dealer who wrote (53298)	6/28/2002 5:36:12 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 65232

Jail time would deter corporate fraud OUTRAGEOUS SCANDALS ARE ERODING CONFIDENCE IN THE MARKET Posted on Thu, Jun. 27, 2002 The Mercury News IT is hard to see an end to the outrageous corporate scandals that are steadily eroding confidence in the American financial system. Just last week, the Wall Street Journal declared on its front page that "the scope and scale of the corporate transgressions of the late 1990s ... exceed anything the U.S. has witnessed since the Great Depression." Now WorldCom, the huge telecommunications company, has revealed what could be one of the largest cases of accounting fraud in history. Once again, investors and employees have been betrayed, and the fallout will damage the economy. It's not enough for prosecutors to hand out a few indictments, reach a couple of settlements and extract some fines. Financial fraud is a crime committed by individuals who ought to be punished. Fines won't deter others. Jail terms will. For their part, regulators and legislators must shore up a system of checks and balances that is broken and has allowed some executives to run public companies as if they were their private slush funds. Clearly, many auditors and corporate boards have failed to fulfill their role as investor representatives. Without rules to strengthen oversight and do away with conflicts of interest, investors will not regain confidence. It's unfortunate that it took the WorldCom disaster to prompt Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle to move up a planned vote on sound accounting reform legislation approved by the Senate Banking Committee last week. The bill, which limits consulting work by auditors and sets up an independent board to oversee and investigate accountants, deserves to be passed. WorldCom also prompted the Securities and Exchange Commission to finally approve an order requiring chief executives and chief financial officers at the nation's 1000 largest companies to certify the accuracy of their financial statements. The stock exchanges have proposed sensible reforms. A rule-setting committee of Nasdaq, meeting today in San Francisco, should push those reforms further and adopt rules requiring a majority of independent directors on corporate boards, and only independent directors on committees that set pay for executives. If WorldCom's debacle puts new life into these and other overdue reforms, it will have, perversely, played a useful role. bayarea.com