Companies Still Complaining About The Sarbanes Oxley Tax

Wall Street

from the the-cost-of-scams dept

The lasting impact of the corporate scandals from a few years ago may not be that corporate executives are any more ethical these days, but plenty of other companies are being punished for the misdeeds of those who came before them. We noted a while back that the Sarbanes-Oxley “tax” was slowing down innovation, by making it much more expensive for companies to do business, while also creating a “cover your ass” culture, rather than a risk-taking one. Now, a new study suggests that Sarbanes-Oxley compliance is slowing down tech purchasing, as big corporate CFOs need to spend more time reviewing documents that they don’t have time to sign off on new tech spending. Admittedly, some of the complaints are clearly just whining from companies who are having problems for a variety of reasons. It is important that corporate execs be held more accountable for misdeeds, but that doesn’t mean everyone should be punished.