Senate bill to crack down on fraud

THE US Senate has approved the most sweeping changes in corporate accountability since the Depression, creating stiff penalties and jail terms for company fraud and tightening oversight of the accounting industry.

The Senate voted 97-0 last night to pass the bipartisan bill after nearly a week of debate and votes on amendments as a string of corporate accounting scandals shattered confidence in business and the markets and threatened the fragile economic recovery.

In a separate speech, President George Bush told business leaders: “We intend to hold people accountable. We can’t pass a law that says, ‘You will be honest,’ ” the president said at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “We can pass laws that say, ‘If you’re not honest we’ll get you.’ ”