Enron, WorldCom, and the Consequences: Business Criminal Law Between Doctrinal Requirements and the Hopes of Crime Policy

Abstract

In February 2002, during a Congressional hearing, the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission was convinced that there would be no need for new laws despite the Enron collapse. However, after the irregularities at WorldCom and other big companies came to light, these moderate words rang hollow. A tidal wave entered Washington during summer 2002: the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which prescribes new duties for accountants and drastic regulations regarding corporate governance, and has been called the biggest reform of corporate governance since the federal security laws were enacted seventy years ago.