In the first of a two-part interview, governance champion Bob Monks discusses how there is no one way to determine value. ‘Truth is in the eye of the promoter,’ he says.
Monks also talks about the difficulty the SEC has faced in reining in the worst excesses of Wall Street. He says the collapse of Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns resulted from the SEC under Christopher Cox allowing banks to set their own gearing ratio.
‘The SEC not only got tired, but also got quite corrupt. During the administration of George W Bush, he appointed a chairman of the SEC who basically dismantled it,’ comments Monks.
