Remember Enron, and the rest? Here’s why they got rid of Elliot Spitzer, and why he needs to come back. And the figures seem low by today’s standards.

Spitzer stays on war path

As WorldCom crisis deepens, New York attorney general stresses need for reform.
July 2, 2002: 2:23 PM EDT

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) – New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer stepped up his calls Tuesday for higher ethical behavior by investment bankers and corporate executives as regulators try to restore the shattered investor confidence that has sent stocks to five-year lows.

Spitzer, speaking on CNN’s American Morning with Paula Zahn, said CEOs need to personally vouch for the accuracy of their companies’ finances. And he said investment banks must put investors’ need ahead of the their investment banking clients.

"The American public no longer has confidence in Wall Street and we’ve got to change that," Spitzer said.

The remarks, which Spitzer has made before, came a day after the accounting scandal at WorldCom (WCOME: Research, Estimates) deepened, with the telecom company saying cash flow may have been exaggerated as far back as 1999.

In a separate matter, New York State’s comptroller, H. Carl McCall, filed a motion Tuesday in Federal District Court, alleging that WorldCom’s misleading accounting inflated its stock price. McCall, who runs New York’s $112 billion pension fund, says fund investors lost more than $300 million because of the tumble in WorldCom shares, which fetched more than $60 in 1999.

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