January 22, 2009
Thanks Christopher Cox for your Service and Vision on IFRS
It is always amazing when talented people take really tough political government positions, knowing that one day they may have to step down amid controversy. The Chairman of the SEC is one of those positions that may be the most thankless job in government (except possibly being President of the USA). Chairman William Donaldson (SEC Chair prior to Christopher Cox) was pushed out for being too aggressive in chasing Wall Street villains.
I had the pleasure of meeting Chairman Donaldson at an open SEC meeting in Washington during his tenure. He was warm, intelligent and passionate about the job. He did a great job. Too bad they pushed him out. Despite his initial ties to Wall Street he was relentless in his work in trying to route out corruption. I was heartened to see that he was on the advisory team to the Obama administration during the transition.
But despite being a Donaldson fan, I think that former Chairman Cox got a raw deal. Should they have followed up on the many tips the Commission allegedly received over the years about Madoff, Yes. But it is not like Cox spent the last 3 1/2 years doing nothing. They worked to root out fraud and had an impressive enforcement record in addition to working with smaller public companies to assist them in complying with SOX. Their guidance documents on the subject were excellent and well thought out.
The truth about fraud is that everyone who has ever audited and missed something knows that the hardest part about detecting fraud is if there is collusion. Clearly there were so many partners in Madoff's alleged crimes that he may have had to use several yachts to hold them all. Obviously, the old boy was pretty smart not to have been caught for so long.
There will always be criminals who are connected smart sociopaths in our midst. I do not care how much regulation you put into place, there will always be smart crooks who perpetrate fraud. It is not to say that it should be tolerated, it should not. But to think that regulation and regulators can catch every fraud is pure fantasy.
I say thanks to Christopher Cox for your record and taking action to move the US to IFRS because those are actions that no one will understand the importance until later. So good job and best of luck Mr. Cox. Some of us appreciate your hard work and vision for the future of American competitiveness.
If your company is moving to IFRS and needs a cost effective solution, and wants to do it in a sensible and cost effective way, contact http://www.ifrspartner.com/ for more information on IFRS Partner(tm) for companies beginning their conversion efforts. To find out more about events demonstrating these solutions, see http://www.ifrspartner.com/events.htm
I had the pleasure of meeting Chairman Donaldson at an open SEC meeting in Washington during his tenure. He was warm, intelligent and passionate about the job. He did a great job. Too bad they pushed him out. Despite his initial ties to Wall Street he was relentless in his work in trying to route out corruption. I was heartened to see that he was on the advisory team to the Obama administration during the transition.
But despite being a Donaldson fan, I think that former Chairman Cox got a raw deal. Should they have followed up on the many tips the Commission allegedly received over the years about Madoff, Yes. But it is not like Cox spent the last 3 1/2 years doing nothing. They worked to root out fraud and had an impressive enforcement record in addition to working with smaller public companies to assist them in complying with SOX. Their guidance documents on the subject were excellent and well thought out.
The truth about fraud is that everyone who has ever audited and missed something knows that the hardest part about detecting fraud is if there is collusion. Clearly there were so many partners in Madoff's alleged crimes that he may have had to use several yachts to hold them all. Obviously, the old boy was pretty smart not to have been caught for so long.
There will always be criminals who are connected smart sociopaths in our midst. I do not care how much regulation you put into place, there will always be smart crooks who perpetrate fraud. It is not to say that it should be tolerated, it should not. But to think that regulation and regulators can catch every fraud is pure fantasy.
I say thanks to Christopher Cox for your record and taking action to move the US to IFRS because those are actions that no one will understand the importance until later. So good job and best of luck Mr. Cox. Some of us appreciate your hard work and vision for the future of American competitiveness.
If your company is moving to IFRS and needs a cost effective solution, and wants to do it in a sensible and cost effective way, contact http://www.ifrspartner.com/ for more information on IFRS Partner(tm) for companies beginning their conversion efforts. To find out more about events demonstrating these solutions, see http://www.ifrspartner.com/events.htm
