Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
ACC/561
March 23, 2015
Dr. James Krause
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is a legislation that was passed by Congress to protect shareholders and the general public from accounting errors and fraudulent in businesses and corporations (Rouse, 2015). There were several financial scandals that had taken place in the earlier 2000’s, which resulted in businesses going bankrupt and investors losing all of their investment. This act placed many regulations on businesses in order protect the public and prevent future frauds from accruing. In this essay we will evaluate SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley Act) and determine its effectiveness in preventing future frauds both internally and externally.
Sarbanes-Oxley is divided up into elevens different titles each aimed at different aspect of the accounting operations of a business. Some of the major provisions in this act are as follows (AllBusiness, 2015):
Chief Executive and financial officers are held responsible for their public companies’ financial reports (AllBusiness, 2015).
Executive officers and directors may not solicit or accept loans from their companies (AllBusiness, 2015).
Insider trades are reported more quickly, and are prohibited during pension fund blackout periods (AllBusiness, 2015).
Disclosure of executive compensation and profits is mandatory (AllBusiness, 2015).
Internal Audits as well as review and certification of audits by outside auditors are mandatory (AllBusiness, 2015).
Longer jail sentences and larger fines are now imposed on executives who intentionally misstate financial statements (AllBusiness, 2015).
Audit firms may no longer provide actuarial, legal, or consulting services to firms they audit (AllBusiness, 2015).
Publicly traded companies must establish internal financial controls and have those controls audited annually by an independent auditor (AllBusiness, 2015).
These provisions are to impose stricter rules and...