拿什么管你，摩根大通

    不管戴蒙怎么做，操纵盈利都可能会引发监管机构的审查。但分析师会仔细察看公司业绩吗？

    安然丑闻之后，华尔街分析师继续面临与其研究对象相处的压力。由于获得信息的艰难，他们似乎不愿过多追问，以免弄僵关系。读过4月份和5月份摩根大通新闻发布会记录的人很容易就可以发现分析师对戴蒙的迁就。如果戴蒙说他不会回答某个问题，或者说已经给出过答案，分析师就会退避三舍。然而，分析师不正是因为会努力搜寻公司信息才得到高额薪酬的吗？可至少到现在，一直是记者们在冲锋陷阵。

    我们觉得，一旦对问题采取了某种行动（比如华尔街的和解），我们就可以束之高阁了，这种想法可以理解。国会通过了某项法律，比如多德-弗兰克法案或者萨班斯-奥克斯利法案，人们认为问题就得到解决了。如果没解决，他们就会归罪于法律。有的议员上个月就问戴蒙：“多德-弗兰克法案没起作用，是吧？”

    生活在美国的人对草坪一定再熟悉不过了。割过草后，过一周再看，肯定又得割了。而在资本市场的世界里，我们却常常看到割过一茬的野草春风吹又生。

    确实，认识到公司需要治理并不容易。即便没有发现问题，若人们只是两手空空地闲逛，不使用割草机，我们必然会回到杂草丛生的过去。

    Eleanor Bloxham是董事会咨询公司“价值同盟和公司治理同盟”（The Value Alliance and Corporate Governance Alliance, http://thevaluealliance.com/）的首席执行官。

    No matter what Dimon does, managing earnings could draw regulatory scrutiny. But will analysts take a closer look?

    Post-Enron, Wall Street analysts continue to face pressures to get along with their subjects. Confronting an uphill road in getting information, they don't seem inclined to press them either. When you read the April and May J.P. Morgan transcripts, you can easily spot the analysts' deference to Dimon. When he says he isn't going to answer a question or that they already have the answer, analysts back off. And yet, analysts get paid big bucks to ferret out information on companies. It appears that, at least up until now, journalists are raising the alarms.

    It's understandable to want to believe that once we take action (like the Wall Street settlements), we can cross it off the list for good. Congress passes a law, like Dodd-Frank or Sarbanes Oxley, and some people believe the problems should be fixed. And if they aren't, they blame the law. "Dodd-Frank isn't working, is it?" members of Congress asked Dimon last month.

    If you live in the U.S., you are probably all too familiar with lawns. You mow a lawn and, lo and behold, a week later you must mow it again. Yet in the capital markets world, we always seem surprised to see unwieldy grass grow back again.

    True, recognizing that a company needs a fix is difficult. But even if you can't see the problems coming, if there are people wandering around without a mower, you can bet we'll soon be stuck in the high weeds of the past.

    Eleanor Bloxham is CEO of The Value Alliance and Corporate Governance Alliance (http://thevaluealliance.com/), a board advisory firm.