The business lobbies complain that it's expensive to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley, the post-Enron law that is intended to prevent Enron-style accounting. Independent analysts, such as those at the Government Accountability Office, didn't see much of an issue, except for small firms. However, the Washington Post sides with the lobbyists telling readers today that "going private is also becoming increasingly attractive to public companies that must spend large sums to comply with complex accounting regulations that are part of Sarbanes-Oxley." Not complying with Sarbanes-Oxley may not save businesses much money, but it certainly does make it easier to do Enron-style accounting.
--Dean Baker
