You knew it would come to this.
After the collapse of Enron, WorldCom, etc., Congress actually did a little work to tighten up reporting rules for American corporations, particularly in the area of assets and earnings.
These rules must have had some effect, because now the Junior Mob is attempting to offer corporations a way around them: by using foreign regulatory standards.
The New York Times reports this morning on the effort in a front-pager entitled Accounting Plan Would Allow Use of Foreign Rules and quickly gets to the meat:
But critics say the changes appear to be a last-ditch push by appointees of President Bush to dilute securities rules passed after the collapse of Enron and other large companies — measures that were meant to forestall accounting gimmicks and corrupt practices that led to those corporate failures.
Legal experts, some regulators and Democratic lawmakers are concerned that the changes would put American investors at the mercy of overseas regulators who enforce weaker rules and may treat investment losses as a low priority.
What rules, you ask? Oh, don't worry. Nothing that's been any problem for the financial markets. . .
Though foreign accounting standards are stronger in some ways than American accounting principles, they are weaker in some important areas. They enable companies, for example, to provide fewer details about mortgage-backed securities, derivatives and other financial instruments at the center of today’s housing crisis and that have troubled many Wall Street firms, including Bear Stearns.
Also weakened would be the very conflict-of-interest rules that were put in place after the close ties between Enron and Arthur Andersen were revealed in the wake of the energy giant's meltown.
What Republican laissez-faire globalism has done to environmental protection, occupational and product safety and workers' rights is now going to be implemented in the financial sector.
Have a nice ride. Down.