Will He or Won’t He?

01 Sep 2005

Will He or Won’t He?

Re: Chris Cox (MBA 1976); George Bush (MBA 1975); Bill Donaldson (MBA 1958)

Topics: Government and Politics-General Finance-General

There’s another guessing game going on in Washington, and it doesn’t involve the direction of the Supreme Court. Give up? It’s all about how Christopher Cox (MBA ’76), chosen by President George W. Bush (MBA ’75) to head the SEC, will rule with regard to key issues before the agency. Some say that Cox will undo much of what his predecessor, William Donaldson (MBA ’58), accomplished during his two-year tenure; others aren’t so sure.

Quoting unnamed “people familiar with his thinking,” the Financial Times (June 29, 2005) said of Cox that he had “no intention of halting new accounting rules that required companies to treat stock options as expenses and make deductions from profits.” And Cox himself pledged he would not undermine Donaldson’s work. Describing his predecessor as “a standup guy,” Cox said, “I look at his record as one of great achievement” (New York Times, July 27, 2005).