Sarbanes-Oxley Act Research Paper Essay Example
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
Karla Azcue
ACC 120-09
Mr. Donald Senior
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is one of the most important legislations passed in the 21st century effecting financial practice and corporate governance. This act was passed on July 30, 2002 thanks to Representative Michael Oxley a republican from Ohio and Senator Paul Sarbanes a democrat from Maryland. They both passed two different bills that pertain to the same problem which had to do with corporation's auditing accountability and financial fraud problems within corporations. One was bill (S. 2673) brought by Senator Sarbanes and the other bill (H. R. 3763) brought by Representative Oxley. Both bills where passed separately one by the house and the other by the senate but after WorldCom revealed to the public that they had overstated its earnings "by more than $72 billion dollars during the past five quarters." (en.wikipedia.org) the house and the senate decided to form a conference committee to bring both bills together to form a stronger one. The conference committee approved the final bill on July 24th, 2002, giving it the name of "the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002" and on July 30th, 2002, President Bush signed it making it a law. (en.wikipedia.org)
The clear motive for this law is to fight against financial statements fraud in the United States, as personified by worldCom, Enron and many others. The Sarbanes-Oxley act is also referenced as the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investors Protection Act of 2002, SOX, or Sarbox. (en.wikipedia.org)
According to wikipedia.org an online encyclopedia, the major provisions of the act are these twelve:
Creation of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB)
A requirement that public companies evaluate and disclose the effectiveness of their internal controls as they relate to financial reporting, and that independent auditors for such companies "attest" (i.e., agree, or qualify) to such disclosure
Certification
Karla Azcue
ACC 120-09
Mr. Donald Senior
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is one of the most important legislations passed in the 21st century effecting financial practice and corporate governance. This act was passed on July 30, 2002 thanks to Representative Michael Oxley a republican from Ohio and Senator Paul Sarbanes a democrat from Maryland. They both passed two different bills that pertain to the same problem which had to do with corporation's auditing accountability and financial fraud problems within corporations. One was bill (S. 2673) brought by Senator Sarbanes and the other bill (H. R. 3763) brought by Representative Oxley. Both bills where passed separately one by the house and the other by the senate but after WorldCom revealed to the public that they had overstated its earnings "by more than $72 billion dollars during the past five quarters." (en.wikipedia.org) the house and the senate decided to form a conference committee to bring both bills together to form a stronger one. The conference committee approved the final bill on July 24th, 2002, giving it the name of "the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002" and on July 30th, 2002, President Bush signed it making it a law. (en.wikipedia.org)
The clear motive for this law is to fight against financial statements fraud in the United States, as personified by worldCom, Enron and many others. The Sarbanes-Oxley act is also referenced as the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investors Protection Act of 2002, SOX, or Sarbox. (en.wikipedia.org)
According to wikipedia.org an online encyclopedia, the major provisions of the act are these twelve:
Creation of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB)
A requirement that public companies evaluate and disclose the effectiveness of their internal controls as they relate to financial reporting, and that independent auditors for such companies "attest" (i.e., agree, or qualify) to such disclosure
Certification