Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002

E3896

United States federal law corporate governance law

The Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 is a U.S. federal law that established sweeping reforms to improve corporate governance, financial reporting, and auditor independence in response to major accounting scandals.

Aliases (7)

Statements (50)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	United States federal law → corporate governance law →
alsoKnownAs	Corporate and Auditing Accountability and Responsibility Act → Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002 →
appliesTo	public company boards of directors → public company external auditors → public company management → publicly traded companies in the United States →
codifiedIn	Title 15 of the United States Code → Title 18 of the United States Code →
country	United States →
dateSigned	2002-07-30 →
enactedBy	107th United States Congress →
establishes	Public Company Accounting Oversight Board →
focusesOn	auditor independence → corporate responsibility for financial disclosures → internal control over financial reporting →
imposes	criminal penalties for certifying false financial reports → criminal penalties for securities fraud →
influenced	global corporate governance standards →
motivatedBy	Enron accounting scandal → Tyco International scandal → WorldCom accounting scandal →
primaryPurpose	enhance accuracy of financial reporting → improve corporate governance → strengthen auditor independence →
prohibits	auditors from providing certain non-audit services to audit clients → destruction of records with intent to obstruct a federal investigation →
publicLawNumber	Public Law 107-204 →
regulator	Securities and Exchange Commission →
requires	CEO certification of financial reports → CFO certification of financial reports → external auditor attestation of internal control over financial reporting for most large issuers → independent audit committees for public companies → management assessment of internal control over financial reporting → procedures for confidential and anonymous submission of employee concerns regarding accounting or auditing matters →
section	Section 301 → Section 302 → Section 404 → Section 802 → Section 906 →
shortName	SOX → Sarbanes–Oxley → Sarbanes–Oxley Act →
signedBy	George W. Bush →
sponsor	Michael G. Oxley → Paul Sarbanes →
strengthens	whistleblower protections for employees of public companies →
subjectOf	debate over compliance costs for public companies →
yearEnacted	2002 →

Referenced by (23)

Subject (surface form when different)	Predicate
Public Law 107-204 ("Sarbanes–Oxley Act") → Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 ("Sarbanes–Oxley Act") → Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 ("SOX") → Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 ("Sarbanes–Oxley") →	shortName
Public Law 107-204 ("Corporate Responsibility Act of 2002") → Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 ("Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002") → Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 ("Corporate and Auditing Accountability and Responsibility Act") →	alsoKnownAs
Michael G. Oxley → Paul Sarbanes →	coAuthorOf
Division of Enforcement → Division of Enforcement of the SEC →	legalAuthority
U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934 →	amendedBy
U.S. Congress →	enactsLaw
Securities and Exchange Commission →	enforces
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board →	foundedBy
Enron accounting scandal ("Sarbanes–Oxley Act") →	inspired
Paul Sarbanes ("Sarbanes–Oxley Act") →	knownFor
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board →	legalBasis
United States federal securities markets →	legalFramework
Michael G. Oxley →	notableWork
Public Law 107-204 →	officialName
107th United States Congress ("Sarbanes–Oxley Act") →	passed
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board ("Sarbanes–Oxley Act Title I") →	subjectOf