MacLeod Heminway, Joan --- "The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002: a regulatory hodge-podge arising from highly visible financial fraud" [2014] ELECD 518; in Markham, Jerry; Gjyshi, Rigers (eds), "Research Handbook on Securities Regulation in the United States" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2014) 282

Book Title: Research Handbook on Securities Regulation in the United States

Editor(s): Markham, Jerry; Gjyshi, Rigers

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781782540069

Section: Chapter 10

Section Title: The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002: a regulatory hodge-podge arising from highly visible financial fraud

Author(s): MacLeod Heminway, Joan

Number of pages: 34

Abstract/Description:

In November 2001, a single business combination transaction held the attention of many in the legal and financial world: the Enron Corp./Dynegy Inc. merger. The transaction represented a stunning reversal for former Wall Street and media darling Enron, a firm whose stock had tumbled in the market as the firm revealed reduced earnings followed by restatements of its publicly reported historical financial statements. The merger with Dynegy was widely seen as a rescue of Enron, and none too soon. In fact, it turned out to be too late. By the end of November, the deal was scuttled when Dynegy got cold feet amid continuing revelations of significant financial misstatements and allegations of management misconduct at Enron. Dynegy Inc. scrapped its proposed $9 billion merger with Enron Corp. Wednesday, a move that leaves what had been one of the nation's biggest and most influential companies teetering on the edge of bankruptcy … Enron's woes started after regulators began an investigation of transactions with a partnership created by its former chief financial officer, Andrew Fastow, that resulted in a $1.2 billion reduction in the value of investors' holdings.