The Sarbanes Oxley Act ( Sox )

Sarbanes–Oxley, Sarbox or SOX, is a United States federal law which was introduced in 2002. It is also known as the “Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act” and “and 'Corporate and Auditing Accountability and Responsibility Act”. The main objective of the act is to protect investors by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures. New aspects are created by SOX act for corporate accountability as well as new penalties for wrong doings. It was basically introduced after major corporate and accounting scandals including the scandals of Enron, WorldCom etc so that the same kind of scandals do not repeat again.

Essay #1- Tax Advantages and Disadvantages of Sarbanes-Oxley Eric Kitts Liberty University Introduction The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) of 2002 was implemented to deter fraudulent activities amongst companies by monitoring and auditing financial activities as well as set up internal controls to aid in the safeguard of company funds and investor’s interest. SOX also regulates the non-audit tax services (NATS) that can be performed by an auditing firm. SOX was passed by Congress in 2002 in an attempt to address the unethical behaviors of corporate firms such as Enron, WorldCom, Sunbeam, and others (Raabe, Whittenburg, Sanders, & Sawyers, 2015). Raabe et al. (2015) continues explaining that SOX was created in response to the inadequacies

Over the last decade, headlines have told stories of unethical behavior from corporations such as Enron, Worldcom, Boeing, Xerox, and Rite Aid. As business continued to grow, so has the laws and regulations that govern corporations to make sure they continue to practices their business legally and ethically.

In the early 2000’s there were a series of financial scandals that took place by large companies such as Enron, Tyco, and WorldCom. The impact of these scandals was significant. Investors lost large amounts of money. Employees of the scandalous companies not only lost their jobs but lost their life savings. The financial scandals that had taken place were so severe that an Act was created in response to them in hopes to prevent these scandals from happening. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, also referred to as SOX or Sarbanes-Oxley, was created by Senator Paul Sarbanes and Representative Michael Oxley and was signed into law by President George W. Bush on July 30, 2002. The creation and passing of the act was so tremendous that “in the opinion of most observers of securities legislation” Sarbanes-Oxley was “viewed as the most important new law enacted since the passage of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934” (Ink.com 2008).

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush to “mandate a number of reforms to enhance corporate responsibility, enhance financial disclosures and combat corporate and accounting fraud” and applies to all public companies in the U.S., large and small (The Laws That Govern the Securities Industry, 2015). The main purpose of Sarbanes-Oxley is to “eliminate false disclosures” and “prevent undisclosed conflicts of interest between corporations and their analysts, auditors, and attorneys and between corporate directors, officers, and shareholders” (Neghina & Riger, 2009). As a whole, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is very complex and affected organizations must do their due diligence to ensure they

Prior to the advent of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, referred to herein as “SOX,” the board of directors’ pivotal role was to advise senior leaders on the organization’s strategy, business model, and succession planning (Larcker, 2011, p. 3). Additionally, the board had the responsibility for risk management identification and risk mitigation oversight, determining executive benefits, and approval of significant acquisitions (Larcker, 2011, p. 3). Furthermore, for many public organizations, audit committees existed before SOX and provided oversight of internal processes and controls. Melissa Maleske (2012) advised that the roles and responsibilities of the board were viewed “…from a perspective that the board serves management” (p. 2). In contrast, Maleske (2012) noted that SOX regulations altered the landscape “…to a perspective that management is working for the board” (p. 2). SOX expanded not only the duties of the board and the audit committee, but also the authority of these bodies (Maleske, 2012, p. 2).

White collar crime has been around for ages. Today more and more news stories can be found where the elite, the top executives of fortune 500 companies, are being prosecuted for participating in illegal activities. It was hoped that the passing of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2001 after the Enron debacle would reduce the amount of illegal acts being committed in corporate America. The Sarbanes Oxley act makes executives personally responsible for their activities requiring top management to sign off on financial statements stating they are true and accurate and these executives can face jail time for committing fraudulent acts. Unfortunately, immorality in business is still running rampant. One illegal practice we see happening in

The act is also referred to as Sarbox or SOX. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is responsible for enforcement of the law. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) was created as a new auditor through SOX. Standards were stipulated for audit reports.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) was passed by Congress in 2002, and is administered by the SEC. The SEC checks for compliance and creates rules and requirements. The Act was created to restore investor confidence in financial statements after major accounting frauds, such as Enron, Tyco, and WorldCom. In addition, SOX

This paper will discuss the legislation that was enacted following these events. It is known as the Public Accounting Return and Investor Protection Act, better known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and has been enacted since the year 2002 (Mishkin, 2012, p. 158). This Act is applicable to all public companies within the US as well as any international companies who have securities within the US registered with the SEC ("The Vendor-Neutral Sarbanes-Oxley Site", 2012). In this paper, it will be discussed why Sarbanes-Oxley was enacted and the key specifications.

Ernestas Zarskis BUS 5644 International Accounting and Reporting Paper #2 Dr. LuAnn Bean 1. Based on the video "Bigger Than Enron," discuss at least five features of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) that are the result of events related to corporate fraud.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, also known as SOX in short, is a U.S. Federal Law passed by President George Bush. The main reason behind passing of the law was that the government needed improved regulations mandating upper management to confirm the reliability and transparency of the financial statements. This bill came about because of the failure and malpractice by companies such as Enron, WorldCom, Adelphia, and Arthur Anderson. These companies caused a major scandal where investors lost billions of dollars resulting in the public losing confidence in the U.S. Securities Market. “The Act mandated a number of reforms to enhance corporate responsibility, enhance financial disclosures and combat corporate and accounting fraud, and created the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, also known as the PCAOB.”[1] The act includes 11 sections that are enforced by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

After major corporate and accounting scandals like those that affected Tyco, Worldcom and Enron the Federal government passed a law known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 also known as the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act. This law was passed in hopes of thwarting illegal and misleading acts by financial reporters and putting a stop to the decline of public trust in accounting and reporting practices. Two important topics covered in Sarbanes-Oxley are auditor independence and the reporting and assessment of internal controls under section 404.

Analysis of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act Abstract The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) was enacted in July 30, 2002, by Congress to protect shareholders and the general public from fraudulent corporate practices and accounting errors and to maintain auditor independence.   In protecting the shareholders and the general public the SOX Act is intended to improve the transparency of the financial reporting.   Financial reports are to be certified by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) creating increased responsibility and independence with auditing by independent audit firms. In discussing the SOX Act, we will focus on how this act affects the CEOs; CFOs; outside independent audit firms; the advantages and a

Accounting Information Systems Research Paper Abstract The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) was enacted into law in 2002 in the wake of corporation financial reporting scandals involving large publicly held companies. SOX instituted new strict financial regulations with the intent of improving accounting practices and protecting investors from corporate misconduct. SOX requires corporate executives to vouch for the accuracy of financial statements, and to institute and monitor effective internal controls over financial reporting. The cost of implementing an effective internal control structure are onerous, and SOX inflicts opportunity costs upon an enterprise as executives have