Preliminary Report of the American Bar Association Task Force on Corporate Responsibility. July 16, 2002

The American Bar Association's Task Force on Corporate Responsibility was formed to examine systemic issues relating to corporate responsibility arising out of the unexpected and traumatic bankruptcy of Enron and other Enron-like situations which have shaken confidence in the effectiveness of the governance and disclosure systems applicable to public companies in the US. The preliminary report of the task force's findings is presented. The core conclusion of the task force is that, as evidenced by recent failures of corporate responsibility, the exercise by such independent participants of active and informed stewardship of the best interests of the corporation has in too many instances fallen short. Unless the governance system is changed in ways designed to encourage such active and informed stewardship, the task force believes that public trust and investor confidence in the corporate governance system will not be restored.