According to this article, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commision is trying to use a provision in the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 against individual corporate officers. In the case of accounting fraud, they want to use the clawback provision to recover gains from officers, such as the chief financial officer, even if they had no hand in the fraud.

The Economist.com magazine has published an intriguing article by Chris Bones, Dean of Henley Business School. I recommend a careful read and consideration of the points made:

The following is excerpted from an article Jay Taylor and I wrote for the latest edition of EDPACS:

The UK has developed, over time, a governance framework for listed companies. It is referenced to as the Combined Code and is now being reviewed (and input requested for that purpose) in light of the recent governance failures.

There is an increasing level of debate about whether and to what extent corporations have an obligation to protect the interests of society in general — and not just to their shareholders. This is generally described as corporate social responsibility. A good many companies have recognized a need to do more, and they provide periodic reports describing their activities, such as efforts to reduce carbon emissions.