Washington, D.C., Of Counsel Michael Oxley, former Congressman, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and co-author of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, was profiled in an October 16, 2009, CQ Today article, "'Out of the Sausage Factory,' But Oxley Still Has Seat at Table." In addition to his role with Baker Hostetler, Mr. Oxley is also Senior Advisor to the Board of Directors of NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.
According to the article, the Nasdaq position has put him in the thick of the current regulatory overhaul debate—lobbying on legislation that would regulate the multi-trillion-dollar derivatives market. Nasdaq stands to benefit from a plan aimed at pushing as many of the opaque contracts as possible onto public exchanges and clearinghouses. According to the article, the role has Oxley lobbying some of the members who used to serve under him. But he's content not to be in the chairman's seat. "I'm ecstatic being out of the sausage factory," Oxley said.
The public outrage that was so integral to driving the Sarbanes-Oxley Act seven years ago is much less focused and intense this time around, according to the article. "Back then you had some really well-defined villains," said Oxley, who proceeded to tick off the names of top Enron executives, including Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling. "I think there was more of a face to what went on, as opposed to now, where there's no real face."
"The decisions that the Congress makes this time around will probably be the architecture for regulation for the next 80 or 90 years, as we saw with the legislation that passed after the Great Depression," Oxley said.