Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, sponsored by US Senator Paul Sarbanes and US Representative Michael Oxley, represents the biggest change to federal securities laws in a long time. Effective in 2004, all publicly-traded companies are required to submit an annual report of the effectiveness of their internal accounting controls to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The major provisions of the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) include criminal and civil penalties for noncompliance violations, certification of internal auditing by external auditors, and increased disclosure regarding all financial statements. It affects many public U.S. companies as well as non-U.S. companies with a presence in the U.S. SOX is all about corporate governance. |
