Announcement
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX), enacted in response to major corporate and accounting scandals, including those involving Enron and WorldCom, is said to be the most important regulatory reform in the 70-year history of U.S. corporate governance and securities exchange, and it has already been widely evaluated from a legal perspective. Japan, learning from the U.S., implemented the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, known as J-SOX for its similarity to SOX, which went into effect for fiscal years beginning on or after April 1, 2008.
RIETI will welcome three prominent academics from the U.S. to present their views on the SOX Act and its effect on corporate activities. Sadakazu Osaki, Head of Research at Center for Knowledge Exchange and Creation, Nomura Research Institute will then discuss the differences between SOX and J-SOX, and the problems they create. The presentations will be followed by a roundtable discussion with participants including Shinji Hatta, professor at the Graduate School of Professional Accountancy at Aoyama Gakuin University and auditor for RIETI, RIETI research fellows, and representatives from METI.
Information
- Time and Date: 15:00-18:40, Wednesday, June 25, 2008
- Venue: RIETI's seminar room (METI Annex 11th floor, 1121)
- Language: English / Japanese (with simultaneous interpretation)
- Admission: Free
- Host: Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI)
- Contact: HARADA Tomoko
Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI) Tel: 03-3501-8398
Agenda
Chair: SHISHIDO Zenichi (Faculty Fellow, RIETI / Professor, School of Law, Seikei University)
15:00 - 15:10 Introduction
SHISHIDO Zenichi (Faculty Fellow, RIETI / Professor, School of Law, Seikei University)
15:10 - 15:35 "Internal Controls After Sarbanes-Oxley"
Donald C. LANGEVOORT (Co-Director, Joint Degree in Law and Business Administration; Thomas Aquinas Reynolds Professor of Law, Georgetown University)
15:35 - 16:00 "Information Disclosure and Corporate Governance"
Benjamin E. HERMALIN (Thomas and Alison Schneider Distinguished Professor of Finance / Professor and Department Chair, Department of Economics, UC Berkeley)
16:00 - 16:25 "The Sarbanes-Oxley Act at a Crossroads: An Uncertain Future"
Roberta ROMANO (Oscar M. Ruebhausen Professor of Law and Director, Yale Law School Center for the Study of Corporate Law)
16:25 - 16:45 Coffee Break
16:45 - 17:10 "Issues on J-SOX: A Comparative Study"
OSAKI Sadakazu (Executive Fellow, Center for Knowledge Exchange & Creation, Nomura Research Institute)
17:10 - 18:40 Roundtable Discussions, Q&A
*Agenda is subject to change.
