Preview

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1217 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
Sabah Saiyed
ACC/561
May 21, 2014
Susan Hurley
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
“The paper describes the main aspects of the regulatory environment which will protect the public from fraud within corporations. It pays particular attention to SOX requirements and specifically evaluate whether SOX will be effective in avoiding future frauds” (University of Phoenix, 2014).
Introduction
“In the never ending battle against white collar crimes and corporate corruption, the government is enacting and applying various laws and regulations regularly. The policies is updated when and where required but most importantly these regulation must be followed strictly. New regulations and ongoing concern about globalization
…show more content…
It was passed in response to a number of corporate accounting scandals that occurred between the years 2000 to 2002. This act set new standards for public accounting firms, corporate management, and corporate boards of directors. Sarbanes-Oxley, or SOX, is a federal law that is the most comprehensive reform of business practices since Franklin D. Roosevelt was President of the U.S. who passed the New Deal” (Peavler, 2014).
“The Enron scandal proved the need to new compliance standards for public accounting and auditing. Enron was one of biggest and financially sound companies in U.S. But its malpractice resulted as a catalyst for the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation. In order to cut down on the incidence of corporate fraud, Senator Paul Sarbanes and Representative Michael Oxley drafted the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation or SOX prior to 2002” (Peavler, 2014). “The Act compliance required top executives to personally certify corporate accounts in addition to maintaining strict internal-control structure and procedure for financial reporting. Sarbanes-Oxley allowed for criminal penalties if fraud was uncovered” (Amadeo,
…show more content…
(n.d.). Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1083&context=honors
Making Finance Work for Africa. (2012). Legal and Regulation Environment. Retrieved from http://www.mfwda.org/legal-reglatory-environment/html
Peavler, R. (2014). The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Enron Scandal - Why are they Important? Retrieved from http://bizfinance.about.com/od/smallbusinessfinancefaqs/a/sarbanes-oxley-act-and-enron-scandal.htm
Sweeney, P. (2011, January/February). Will new regulations deter corporate fraud? Retrieved from http://www.alixpartners.de/en/Portals/alix/news-docs/Kelly%20Art.pdf
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. (n.d.). The Investor's Advocate: How the SEC Protects Investors, Maintains Market Integrity, and Facilitates Capital Formation. Retrieved from http://www.sec.gov/about/whatwedo.shtml#.U31C8HTnbIU
University of Phoenix. (2014). Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 paper instructions. Retrieved from

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) originated on July 29, 2002 due to fraudulent bookkeeping practices and misleading financial reports from large corporations. These practices created a number of accounting scandals, which resulted in this in the government creating such an act. The purpose was to prevent and punish corporate corruption and, along the way, try to repair investor confidence. The law was passed by congress after well-known companies (Enron, Peregrine Systems and Tyco International, to name a few) caused great humiliations to its investors, which in result cost them billions of dollars. The share prices of the affected companies collapsed, which shook public confidence in the nation’s securities markets.…

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Sarbanes Oxley Memo

    • 1426 Words
    • 6 Pages

    As consultants for Ancher Public Trading (APT), Learning Team A would like to discuss the implications of the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) legislation. This memorandum provides a brief history of SOX¡¦s creation, explains the relationship amongst the FASB, SEC and PCAOB, describes the pros and cons of SOX, assesses the impacts of SOX, and lists ethical considerations of SOX.…

    • 1426 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    Sarbanes Oxley Act

    • 3132 Words
    • 13 Pages

    Financial reporting has been dissected over and over again by legislation. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) hold the key to providing protection and integrity when companies are submitting their financial statements. Although their mission is to provide order and efficiency for financial markets, insidious plans are still developed by companies which ultimately result in turmoil to the economy. To provide a safeguard to investors, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) was passed by congress in 2002, which was constructed because of fraudulent acts of well-known companies such as Enron. Before the SOX was inaugurated, two sets of accounting rules were used as guides for CPA firms.…

    • 3132 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Law 421 Week 1 Summary

    • 1057 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Among other measures, SOX extended the statute of limitations for the SEC to pursue actions and increased penalties at their disposal. SOX changed the balance of power between companies and prosecutors, putting prosecutors in the driver’s seat (Maleski, 2012). With the disclosures made clear and the facts of what is required of public companies, it is easier for agency’s to pursue enforcement. The core values when making disclosures have become clear since SOX extended the statute of…

    • 1057 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Senator Paul Sarbanes and Representative Michael Oxley drafted the Sarbanes-Oxley Act or "SOX" in 2002 in order to curb the incidence of corporate fraud. The “Act” was signed into law on July 30th 2002 by President George W. Bush with the express purpose of restoring public confidence in the financial markets; and after enacting “the Act”, neither Sarbanes or Oxley would run for re-election in the 2006 elections (Jahmani & Dowling, 2008). The intent of the SOX Act was to protect investors, and any other stakeholders in a company, by improving the validity and reliability of corporate disclosures, such as financial statements and earnings reports, pursuant to existing securities laws and regulations governing publically traded companies (Kessel, 2011). The SOX Act holds corporate Chief…

    • 1488 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Acc 290 Week 5 Analysis

    • 470 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In recent years there have been many highly publicized financial accounting scandals. Enron, WorldCom, and AIG are a few of the well- known corporate companies that have been involved in financial reporting scandals. United Sates regulators and lawmakers made known their concerns of mistrust in corporate accounting, because of unethical financial reporting. In 2002 Congress formed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to certify that publically traded companies were reporting their finances honestly. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act specifies the requirements for financial reporting for public Corporations. The Securities and Exchange Commission oversees the financial reports from these companies. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act calls for all publicly traded corporations to…

    • 470 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002

    • 1322 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Descriptions of the main aspects of the regulatory environment which will protect the public from fraud within corporations are going to be provided in this paper. A special attention to the Sarbanes – Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) requirement; along with an evaluation of whether Sarbanes-Oxley Act will be effective in avoiding future frauds based on their implemented rules and regulations.…

    • 1322 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

    • 1496 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is the most far-reaching change in organizational control and accounting regulations since the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. The new law made securities fraud a criminal offense and made more strict penalties for corporate fraud. The law now requires top executives to sign off on their firms financial reports, and they risk fines and long jail sentences if they…

    • 1496 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Congress responded by enacting the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“Sarbanes-Oxley”), which became effective on July 30, 2002. Sarbanes-Oxley makes many changes in the securities regulation process to improve corporate governance and reporting. It imposes harsh penalties on violators, creates an elaborate system for governing and regulating auditors for public companies, and requires the securities industry’s self-regulatory organizations to adopt rules to prevent conflicts of interest and enhance the independence of securities analysts. Even casual observers of the political reaction to the stunning disclosures about Enron, WorldCom and Tyco’s deceitful financial practices might have predicted some such legislative response (Jennings, 2010, p. 212).…

    • 766 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is mandatory. All large and small organizations must comply with this act. The legislation came into existence in 2002 as a result of a number of corporate and accounting scandals and introduced major changes to the regulation of financial practice and corporate governance. The main architects of the acts were Senator Paul Sarbanes and Representative Michael Oxley. The SOX act protects the shareholders from forged representations in corporate financial statements. The financial information on which the investors rely should be truthful and its accuracy must be verified by an independent third party.…

    • 187 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Sarbanes-Oxley Act

    • 1467 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was established in 2002 and has initiated extensive transformation to the parameter of economic practice and shared bureaucracy. Nevertheless, it was named after Legislator Paul Sarbanes and Representative Michael Oxley, who were the founders, given it the title Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. On July 30, 2002, President George Bush signed off on SOX, revising the security laws that, moderately, reevaluate the responsibility of accountants. Although the focal point of this statute is on shared organizations, it is projected that banks and investors, who necessitate reviewed reports of the…

    • 1467 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Sarbanes-Oxley

    • 1874 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was created by sponsors U.S. Senator Paul Sarbanes(D-MD) and U.S. Representative Michael G. Oxley (R-OH) in response to very public corporate fraud and accounting scandals. In a seemingly short period of time, Enron, Tyco International, Adelphia, Peregrine Systems and WorldCom all collapsed. The majority of these scandals resulted from the inaccurate reporting of financial transactions. The financial statements of these organizations were so gravely misrepresented and misstated that once the organizations' records were presented fairly, it caused the total collapse of the company. As a result of these scandals, investors lost billions of dollars when the share prices collapsed, and the public lost confidence in the nation's securities markets and the auditor who were supposed to protect the public's interest.…

    • 1874 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Sarbanes-Oxley Act

    • 330 Words
    • 2 Pages

    This article discussed the reasons why the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was enacted. The corporate fraud and dishonesty the was present in companies such as Enron Corp, WorldCom, and Adelphia Communications, Inc. required the Federal government to enact legislation that would protect the free enterprise system within the United States.…

    • 330 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Article Review - Sox Act

    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Hunter’s article examines how the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX Act) is too stringent and gives too much power over companies to governing bodies, i.e. the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) (Hunter, 2007). It discusses how the SOX Act is unfair to domestic and foreign and small and large companies, their shareholders, and the public. The piece explains how the Act may compel some companies to use unethical actions to conduct business and prevent accruing penalties (Hunter, 2007).…

    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sarbanes-Oxley Act

    • 439 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Over the years, we the consumers have seen a lot of fraud within corporations. In several instances the acts by greedy corporations have ruined not only the employees but the public stock and investors or shareholders. In order to safeguard the public from fraud, the government implanted regulator laws.…

    • 439 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays