Sarbanes Oxley Paper

Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002

Camille Hernandez

ACC/561

February 16, 2015

Monique Smalling

        The Sarbanex-Oxley Act of 2002 is a United States federal law which set new or improved standards for all U.S. public company boards, management and public accounting firms.        The bill was passed as a response to various corporate and accounting disgraces, including companies like Enron.  The bill covers responsibilities of a public corporation’s board of directors, adds criminal penalties for certain misconduct, and required the Securities and Exchange Commission to create regulations to define how public corporations are to comply with the law.

        According to the SEC the SOX Act was signed into effect on July 30, 2002. “On July 30, 2002, President Bush signed into law the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which he characterized as "the most far reaching reforms of American business practices since the time of Franklin Delano Roosevelt." 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, to oversee the activities of the auditing profession.”  (The Laws That Govern the Securities Industry)

        The SEC’s mission is to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation.  The Securities Exchange Commission manages the key stakeholders in the securities world, comprising securities exchanges, investment advisors, securities brokers and dealers, and mutual funds.  The main concern of the SEC is to protect against fraud and promoting the disclosure of market-related information while maintaining fair dealings.  

        Year after year the Securities Exchange Commission carry numerous civil enforcement actions against not only individuals but companies for violating securities laws.  Standard infractions or violations include things such as accounting fraud, insider trading, providing false or misleading information about securities and the companies that issue them.