A lack of restraint in executive pay is not the only ammunition available to critics of North American corporations' governance reforms. There are plenty of other examples, starting with the near-record high number of cases brought by regulators against companies.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is set to make more than 600 legal filings against companies and individuals in the year to October. That is down from about 680 last year but well above the 480 in the year to October 2001, just before Enron collapsed.