Investment advisers speaking at a corporate governance conference in Paris yesterday gave a positive verdict on the US' controversial Sarbanes-Oxley legislation, which critics claim has made corporate America less competitive, arguing the rules have given shareholders powerful new tools to combat fraud.

Michael Lofing, a managing director in financial analysis at the US-based proxy adviser Glass Lewis, told the conference that the Act's insistence on independent audit committees at companies, annual statements on internal controls, and that audit firms should not audit their own work, were all positive steps forward.