Statement By Attorney General Eliot Spitzer Regarding The Comments Of U.s. Representative Michael Oxley

Yesterday, Congressman Oxley criticized my proposals to strengthen New York's corporate accountability laws. The Congressman, speaking from a conference in Switzerland, said the proposals would hurt the securities industry and cost jobs.

If the Congressman had reviewed the proposals before commenting, he would have determined that several of the bills adopt provisions directly from the Sarbanes-Oxley law and apply those protections to additional entities. (Sarbanes-Oxley pertains only to publically-listed companies and their auditors; not to thousands of smaller companies or non-profit organizations.)

With his misinformed comments, Congressman Oxley is arguing against his own standards.

My proposals also include protections for whistleblowers like Cynthia Cooper and Sherron Watkins, who were named Persons of the Year by Time Magazine for revealing corporate fraud. With his comments, Congressmen Oxley also appears to oppose such protections.

Congressman Oxley apparently still does not understand that the vast majority of corporate fraud cases are brought by state regulators using state laws, because the SEC simply does not have the manpower to address all the frauds that occur nationwide. My bills apply many of the federal standards to New York businesses, which results in a level playing field for everyone in the state, and helps to ensure that New York investors and consumers are protected.

While Congressman Oxley purports to be defending our system of "capital formation," he is actually undercutting that goal by opposing strong laws and aggressive enforcement against corporate wrongdoers. It is only through such action that we will finally restore confidence in securities industry and help strengthen our economy.