Top executives of hundreds of America's biggest companies swore by their financial results yesterday under a government order meant to reassure investors shaken by a wave of multi-billion dollar corporate scandals.
As Treasury Secretary Mr Paul O'Neill called business honesty "the new patriotism", personal pledges from chief executives and chief financial officers flooded the US Securities and Exchange Commission, which was scrambling to keep up.
About 700 of the 947 companies covered by the SEC's unprecedented, one-time order had to comply by the close of business yesterday. Some companies will file later.
By early evening officers of 500 of the 700 companies due to certify results yesterday had done so, with many more to go before the 5:30 pm cut-off.
As nervous markets watched for companies failing to comply, the SEC was referring investors to the online Edgar filing system (http://www.edgar-online.com) to check whether individual company CEOs and chief financial officers (CFOs) had taken their oaths.
President George W. Bush, speaking in Milwaukee, noted the deadline and said: "By far the vast majority of those who run corporate America are good, honourable people ... We're not going to let the few ruin the reputations of the many."
Imposed on June 27 amid a wave of multi-billion dollar accounting scandals ranging from Enron to WorldCom, the commission's order was followed a month later by a raft of business law reforms from Congress.
The massive reform package - drafted by Sen. Paul Sarbanes and Rep. Michael Oxley - will make CEO and CFO certifications routine for all 14,000 companies policed by the SEC, not just the 947 large-cap firms targeted by the one-time order.
The Sarbanes-Oxley bill, signed into law by Bush on July 30th, contains two certification sections. Section 906 took effect immediately. Section 302 takes effect later this month. - (Reuters)
