Corporate Governance

During a March 6 meeting in Washington, D.C., Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) Chairman Mark Olson and European Internal Market and Services Commissioner Charlie McCreevy agreed to enhance EU-U.S. cooperation in the public oversight of auditing firms, and to work toward the goal -- by 2009 -- of full reliance on each others' oversight systems.

2007: PCAOB Chair, European Commissioner Discuss Furthering Cooperation in the Oversight of Audit Firms (Mar 6, 2007)

Foreign companies listing their shares on U.S. stock exchanges would get an easier way to withdraw from those markets under new rules proposed by the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), the U.S. securities markets regulator. Under the proposal, a company could leave a U.S. stock exchange if less than 5 percent of the trading volume of its stock takes place in U.S. markets and less than 10 percent of its shares are owned by U.S. residents, according to a December 14, 2005, SEC news release. If less than 5 percent of its stock is owned by U.S. residents a company could leave no matter how large the trading volume is. The SEC voted December 15 to publish for public comment the rule proposal on deregistration requirements for foreign issuers. A group of European companies has pressed the SEC for changes that would let non-U.S. companies stop filing reports with it based solely on trading volume.

2006: Foreign Firms Gain from U.S. Corporate Governance, Expert Says (Jul 19, 2006) | SEC Announces Next Steps for Sarbanes-Oxley Implementation (May 17, 2006) | U.S. Securities Official Urges More Leeway in Corporate Audits (Jan 24, 2006)

SEC Chairman Christopher Cox met Chairman Arthur Docters van Leeuwen of the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) on December 14, 2005, to discuss International Financial Reporting Standards and other potential agenda items for collaborative efforts in 2006. Cox informed Docters van Leeuwen of the SEC’s rule proposal on deregistration requirements for foreign issuers, which the Commission earlier in the day had voted to publish for public comment. Chairman Cox noted that, “The SEC and CESR are facing many of the same issues relating to the increasingly cross-border nature of the world capital markets. Together we will more effectively be able to address the regulatory issues that are raised by market participants that operate in multiple jurisdictions. I look forward to continuing and strengthening the SEC-CESR relationship.” In response to input from the market place, particularly from European companies, the SEC has proposed new rules for deregistering from US exchanges. Under current rules, a foreign private issuer may exit the Exchange Act registration and reporting regime if the class of the issuer's securities has less than 300 record holders who are U.S. residents. Under these rules, a foreign private issuer may find it difficult to terminate its Exchange Act registration and reporting obligations despite the fact that there is relatively little investor interest in the United States.

2005: Announcement of Cooperation Between SEC and CESR (Dec 15, 2005) | U.S. Securities Chair Meets with EU Internal Market Commissioner (Apr 25, 2005) | U.S., International Regulators Cooperating on Business Rules (Feb 17, 2005)

U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) Chairman William Donaldson proposed on January 26, 2004, that the SEC and the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) move toward a more formal framework for collaboration. Such cooperation, he told a European Policy Centre Breakfast Policy briefing in Brussels, would improve oversight of markets through increased information sharing, allowing the SEC and European regulators to more effectively anticipate regulatory problems, and reduce the regulatory burden on cross-border business through greater convergence of regulatory approaches.

2004: U.S. Securities Regulator Seeks More Cooperation with EU (Jan 27, 2004)

2003: Rules Changes Will Bolster Confidence, SEC Commissioner Says (Jun 12, 2003)

2002: Bolkestein, Pitt Discuss Corporate Governance Issues (Oct 9, 2002) | SEC: Toward the Globalization of Accounting Standards (Apr 18, 2002)