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Enron Mail |
Here's the email that I mentioned in my voicemail. Take care, Mark
-----Original Message----- From: james.doty@bakerbotts.com@ENRON [mailto:IMCEANOTES-james+2Edoty+40bakerbotts+2Ecom+40ENRON@ENRON.com] Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2001 9:08 AM To: mmetts@enron.com Subject: SEC Chairmanship and James R. Doty Mark: If this is not what you had in mind, let me know. I have tried to give you some detail to back up my claim that I can provided much-needed stature and leadership to the SEC. I am also addressing what I think may be some of the objections of constituencies in the corporate and financial community who have, I believe, told the Administration not to appoint a lawyer and former member of the Staff of the SEC. (Of course, Arthur Levitt was not a lawyer, and was a former head of the Amex, and has rammed through one of the mose activist regulatory programs in SEC history! So what I am offering, in part, is balance and respect for process). 1. The President has the opportunity, by appointing Jim Doty, to get the SEC headed in a direction the corporate and financial community wants and to do so with broad (indeed, enthusiastic) support from the agency itself, the corporate and securities bar, the accounting profession and other constituencies (including the NASDAQ, the NYSE, members of the Congressional oversight committees and their staff on both sides of the aisle). Doty knows securities markets and practices through his work for securities firms and is well aware of the issues of market structure that will face the new Chairman--in this he favors continuing to encourage competition and technological innovation in the markets, and is committed to keeping our capital markets the best in the world. He understands the problems the accounting profession and the standard-setting bodies are facing--including international accounting standard issues--and is well equipped to be sure the private standard setting regime we have relied on works well and with sensitivity to current realities. He will not be a "grenade thrower" on the complex pooling/purchase issues now confronting the SEC and the FASB. (Here it will be particularly important that the next Chariman give the FASB proposals on impairment of goodwill in purchase transactions a fair hearing, and not attempt to "strong arm" the private standard setters into a requiring accelerated depreciation of goodwill: this is especially critical given the fragile state of the technology sector.) Doty has spent his career advising boards of directors and senior management on the practical problems businessmen face in dealing with the SEC. He will bring to the job hands-on experience working with the business community(corporate and financial), in solving the problems they face in raising capital and complying with securities regulatory regimes--State, Federal and cross-border. 2. Doty has a national reputation as a corporate- and securities- law expert, has published and is in demand as a speaker. As a practicing lawyer, however, Doty would bring some extraordinary qualifications to the job of running the SEC, which are as folows: a. His record as General Counsel of the SEC from 1990-92 demonstrates an understanding of how to work effectively in governmnet. Doty has the respect of the Staff and will bring credibility within the building to accomplish needed reform. During his tenure as the SEC's General Counsel, with a Democratic majority in Congress, he had a major role in reform initiatives to reduce costs of raising capital and streamline the financial regulatory structure under President George H.W.Bush. These included the Small Business Initiative, which reduced costs for small- and first-time registrants, and structured finance initiatives to provide more efficient access to capital markets for seasoned issuers. b. Doty is committed to using the exemptive authority under the Securities Act of 1933 to promote more efficiency and lower costs in the capital-formation process. He knows where additional exemptive action or repeal is needed--as in the Public Utility Holding Company Act, for example--and he will be a knowledgeable and effective ally of the Administration, including Cabinet officers, and the Republicans on the Hill, in promoting further reform and efficiency. c. Doty will get the agency behind the President's proposal to create individual retirement investment accounts for all members of the workforce. He is committed to helping the Administration get this done when they decide to push for it, and knows how the issues of safety can be practically addressed and the technical objections of critics overcome. d. Doty is a consensus-builder, a good listener and an effective communicator. He is a Texan, a Rhodes Scholar and graduate of Rice University. He has been active in the communities in which he has lived (Senior Warden of Christ Church Cathedral in Houston, Vestryman of St. John's Lafayette Square in D.C.). He is a good family man--his wife of 29 years presently serves in the First Lady's Correspondence Office. As a BakerBotts Senior Partner, Doty can afford to do this for the sake of the job well done and is not attempting to "polish his resume" for another job. e. Most important, Doty has worked tirelessly for this President, knows the President and his style, and is loyal to the President. He wants the President to succeed and will work hard to make sure the policies and practices of the SEC reflect well on the President and his Administration.
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