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Bush signs tough new corporate fraud legislation

Hoping to restore investor faith in US companies after a wave of boardroom scandals, US President George W Bush on Tuesday signed into law a Bill that increases penalties for accounting fraud and provides new grounds for prosecuting corporate corruption.

"No more easy money for corporate criminals. Just hard time," Bush vowed as he signed the measure in a White House East Room ceremony.

The legislation, designed to make it harder for company executives to deceive investors, was spurred by weak stock markets, voter anger and approaching congressional elections. It went beyond Bush's original proposal. Investor anger at staggering losses and fear of political fallout prompted Bush to support the tougher law.

It creates a new oversight board for the accounting industry, until now a largely self-regulated profession that has been implicated in a series of corporate meltdowns ranging from Enron Corp to WorldCom Inc.

Maximum jail time for executives who commit mail or wire fraud is quadrupled to 20 years. The Bill establishes a new crime of securities fraud with a maximum sentence of 25 years.

"In the aftermath of September 11 we refused to allow fear to undermine our economy and we will not allow fraud to undermine it either," he said at a ceremony in the White House East Room attended by key Democratic and Republican lawmakers but conspicuously short on corporate CEOs.

Bush said the new law "says to every American: there will not be a different ethical standard for corporate America than the standards that applies to everyone else."

"My administration pressed for greater corporate integrity. A united Congress has written it into law. And today, I sign the most far-reaching reforms of American business practices since the time of Franklin Delano Roosevelt," Bush said.

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