《萨班斯法案》对美国公司董事会影响的分析

2002年度美国出台的《萨班斯法案》全方位地对安然等事件暴露出来的问题作出相应的调整性规定,必将对公司治理产生深切的影响。《萨班斯法案》对审计委员会提出了修正性和提高性要求,本文选择外部董事、女性董事、财务专家、CEO兼任董事会主席、CEO在提名委员会任职等指标进行分析。实证分析结果说明:《萨班斯法案》有效消除了董事会和管理层任人唯亲的现象,董事会的独立性和专业性均有所提高。其实,《萨班斯法案》颁布之前就有加强公司治理的要求,公司治理就有改进的趋势,但《萨班斯法案》关于审计委员会方面的明文规定加速了公司董事会的变化,使得公司治理改革超越了法律的既定要求。

Empirical Analysis on the Influence of Sarbanes-Oxley Act to the U.S.A Corporate Boards

The adjustments made in Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 in response to a series of corporate scandals will have a profound impact on corporate governance.The Act requires audit commission to make some amendments and improvements.This paper makes an empirical analysis in terms of independent directors,women on the board,financial expert,CEO concurrently as board chairman and CEO on the board nomination committee.The results show that: Sarbanes-Oxley Act strengthens the independence and expertise of the boards,eliminates the phenomenon of appointing people by favoritism.The express provisions of the Act with respect to corporate boards hastened the changes already underway before the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley Act.We speculate that companies that take the spirit and intent of Sarbanes-Oxley Act most seriously will go beyond the directives of the law.