Friend or foe? (TT Sept03 p28-30)

Following the much publicised corporate collapses and scandals of the past few years, it is little wonder that there have been a multitude of reports and new standards issued from various governments and other regulatory authorities, supposedly to combat the possibility of future recurrences. There is a regional flavour to such regulation, ranging from laws to regulations and recommendations, which make it hard for investors to see whether the root causes of the corporate failures have really been addressed.