Four Years after Enron Assessing the Financial Market Regulatory Clean Up

Abstract

This paper assesses the efforts to “clean up” financial markets and corporate governance practices in the wake of the bankruptcies and scandals of the early 2000s. It begins by reviewing what actually happened during that period, what damages ensued and the responses of government enforcement agencies and policy makers, then assesses the impact of the various actions that followed and their effectiveness. The paper then looks at these actions in an historical context, examining the possibilities of imbalances of power between market insiders and ordinary investors that provide an uneven market environment. Finally, it discusses actions that might be taken to have a greater impact on leveling the uneven market, and what might be expected in the way of altered governance practices for the future.