Who Has Influence?

Meet the regulators, watchdogs, insiders and academics whom we believe will drive change in 2003.

In resigning, SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt proved that he had finally learned the importance of playing politics. After months of political miscues, Pitt filed his resignation letter while 2002 election results held the nation's attention. Although Pitt's resignation received little media coverage amid the crush of post-election analysis, it left a major leadership gap at the top of an agency charged with the critical task of resurrecting investor confidence.

The crisis in confidence lingered in November and December, much like Pitt, who will officially leave the SEC when his successor is confirmed by the U.S. Senate later this month or early next month. Last December, President Bush selected William Donaldson as his nominee to replace Pitt. Donaldson co-founded investment banking firm Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette in 1959 and served as its chairman and chief executive. He also served as chairman and CEO of the New York Stock Exchange from 1990 to 1995.

Governance issues will clearly sit at the top of the next SEC chairman's agenda. Still, the markets are looking for a host of other leaders whose decisive actions can strengthen accounting, financial reporting and auditing processes among U.S. corporations. Who will step forward in the coming months? Some high-profile individuals, like Sarbanes and Spitzer, have already taken aggressive, well-thought-out cracks at meeting this need. Others are moving to bolster corporate accountability, but more quietly.

The Business Finance editorial team has identified 37 people whom we expect to influence 2003's debate about and changes to the U.S. accounting and financial reporting environment. We've divided them into four camps: regulators and legislators, watchdogs, insiders, and academics. We will closely follow these influencers' thinking, statements and activities.

Are there omissions? Most likely. Are there inclusions whose influence is fading? Possibly. On both counts, we encourage you to contact us with your comments. What other prominent people can we learn from, and why? We've assembled this list to fuel debate among those responsible for restoring confidence in public companies. Such dialogue will help spark the decisive action necessary to improve corporate America's accounting and reporting processes.