The infamous downfall of Enron, once the world's leading energy-trading company, was part of an avalanche of the biggest-ever corporate scandals. In the aftermath, and that of the spectacular bankruptcies and investor losses that followed, the United States introduced tough new laws. The Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002, commonly called SOX or Sarbox, covers issues such as corporate governance, auditor independence and financial disclosure.
Since then, there has been a virtual explosion of interest in such issues, and many countries and organizations now also have corporate governance codes in place. While their motivations might be similar - to prevent the recurrence of such scandals and to better protect minority stakeholders - the international corporate governance landscape is diverse.
So diverse, in fact, that some U.S. companies now list on foreign exchanges precisely to avoid SOX's tentacles and thereby enjoy more lenient climes.
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