...Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) of 2002 Topics Covered: How SOX affects the following: CEO’s and CFO’s of Public Companies Outside Independent Audit Firms SOX section 404 on Internal Control The Main Advantages and Disadvantages of SOX Executive Summary The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) was intended to create more transparency in financial reporting and to combat the perceived inflation of CEO compensation. To do this, the act required that a board of directors be financially independent from the CEO and have no familial ties. It also required the CEO and CFO to personally sign all quarterly and annual reports submitted to the SEC and provided for criminal penalties if this was not done. Our research indicates that Sarbanes-Oxley has created more transparency in the system, but it has actually had the opposite effect than was intended with regards to CEO compensation. The research indicates that CEO compensation has increased for many companies post-Sarbanes-Oxley. Due in large part to the Enron scandal, SOX needed to address outside independent audit firms to improve the accuracy of financial reports disclosed by publicly traded companies. These financial reports are used by investors, bankers and interested consumers to determine how well an organization is doing and provide investors with vital information about a company’s performance. This paper will discuss the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and how the SOX law affects outside independent audit firms. Next we review...
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...theorld of financial accounting Sarbanes and Oxley or SOX is one of the most important pieces of legislation passed in this decade or even in the history of financial accounting. Sarbanes and Oxley brought about major changes in financial accounting which allows for more regulation of the accounting profession. It took Accounting form being looked at as a numbers game and placed more importance on the communication aspect of the profession. This essay will focus on Sarbanes and Oxley and its impact on the accounting profession as a whole. How can one piece of legislation weigh so heavily on a profession? To answer that question one has to look at the impact Sarbanes and Oxley has had on the practice of public accounting. Prior to Sarbanes and Oxley the regulation of public accounting was done internally, through organizations such as the SEC. However with the passage of Sarbanes and Oxley the profession was given an overhaul making companies more accountable. Sarbanes-Oxley was established to improve the quality and transparency of the financial statements issued by public companies. With that purpose in mind Sarbanes-Oxley developed a new board to oversee how financial statements are audited according to independent standards, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. This changed the game. It decreased the chance of companies falsifying financial statements, mainly because of the threat of penalties and imprisonment. In addition Sarbanes and Oxley have had a cascade effect on...
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...Introduction to Sarbanes – Oxley Act of 2002 The Sarbanes – Oxley Act of 2002, also known as the Public company accounting reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002 and commonly called SOX or Sarbox is a United States federal law passed in response to a number of major corporate and accounting scandals including those affecting Enron and WorldCom. The Act establishes a new quasi-public authority, the Public Company Accounting oversight Board for overseeing, regulating, inspecting and disciplining accounting firms in their roles as auditors of public companies. The Act covers issues such as auditor independence, corporate governance and enhanced financial disclosure. Major Provision of Sarbanes – Oxley Act of 2002 The Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 established corporate accountability and civil and criminal penalties for white – collar crimes. This act is a United States federal law passed in response to a number of major corporate and accounting scandals including those effecting Enron, Tyco and WorldCom. These scandals resulted in a decline of public trust in accounting and reporting practices. This Act provides regulatory bodies and courts to take various actions – civil and criminal proceedings in connection of misstatements amounting to accounting scandals and fraudulent financial reports, other frauds on securities matters, obstruction of justice and retaliating against corporate Whistleblowers. The Act also enforce tougher civil and criminal penalties for fraud and accounting...
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...Adoption of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 ACC 100. Accounting Professor Hiotellis June 4, 2011 New Standards for U.S. Public Companies The Sarbanes-Oxley Act imposed a series of “enhanced” standards on publicly traded companies intended to ensure financial reports were being reported accurately to the public. Among others, these enhanced standards include: • Companies must maintain adequate controls over financial reporting. • Companies must provide a statement regarding the method the company uses for evaluating their control over financial reporting controls. • Companies must disclose any material weaknesses in their accounting controls. • Auditors must issue an attestation regarding the managements own assessment of its financial reporting capabilities. Why the new enhanced standards are necessary Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 in reaction to accounting scandals involving well-known companies like Enron, WorldCom, and Tyco that were inaccurately reporting financial information over a period of years. Through close relationships with accounting firms that amounted to conflicts of interest, these companies were able to perpetuate their fraudulent financial reporting. One noted accounting firm – Arthur Anderson – was forced to shut down because of the scandal, though several other accounting firms were also implicated. The story of Enron’s demise and the financial fraud that lead to it is perhaps the most well-known...
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...of the Enron and WorldCom, Congress enacted the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The Act is considered by many to be the most important legislation affecting the auditing profession since the 1933 and 1934 Securities Acts (Arens, 2010). The Act also established the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). The PCAOB provides oversight for auditors of public companies, establishes auditing and quality control standards for public company audits, and performs inspections of the quality controls at audit firms performing those audits (Arens, 2010). But the question is, are these regulations effective against corporate fraud and protecting investors? It is my opinion that the most important sections of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act are sections 302, 404, and 802. Section 302 holds a company’s CEO and CFO accountable for their financial reports. They must sign off on the financial reports stating that they have reviewed the report and that the report does not contain any untrue information or omissions. I firmly believe that this section is effective, CEOs and CFOs can no longer “turn a blind eye” or use the excuse that they didn’t know what was going on in their company. Section 404 pertains to the assessment of a company’s internal controls. The auditing firm of a public company must attest to and report on the assessment on the effectiveness of the internal control structure and procedures for financial reporting (Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002). Section 404 also requires management to...
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...the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on Auditing Prior to the 2002, there were numerous accounting and corporate scandals that rocked the business world. Foremost of which is the Enron debacle which was followed by WorldCom, Tyco International and Global Crossing (CIO Decisions). The collapse of these businesses was attributed to the lack of regulatory controls in the part of the government as well as transparency of operations of corporations which can be of help to its stakeholders in the analysis of profitability and assurance of good governance to the public. They importance of the Act lies on the accountability and security of financial reporting that the stakeholders would have in a corporation’s implementation of good business practices and adherence to laws and regulations in the administration and operations of the company. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act revised a significant portion of the federation securities laws which had been in place for 60 years already (Sarbanes-Oxley Information). Before SOX, there is a self-regulation in the accounting profession whereby the Securities and Exchange Commission was “given statutory authority to set accounting standards and oversight over the Activities of the auditors…the role of establishing standards was left to the accounting profession” (CPCAF). One of the key changes in internal audits is that the “Act requires all financial reports to include an internal control report” (Sarbanes Oxley Basics)...
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...“Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act and its impact on corporate America” In order to understand why the Sarbanes-Oxley Act came to be, it’s important to acknowledge some of the mistakes made by some companies that led to the creation of this Act. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was originally enacted in the wake of the Enron scandal, but then pushed to congress after a series of high-profile financial scandals followed Enron, including WorldCom and Tyco that rattled investor confidence and the level of confidence that the public held in corporate America (Rouse). Enron Corporation was one of the largest energy companies in the world, marketing primarily electricity and natural gas but also provided financial risk management for its clients. Enron’s demise began in 1997 when it bought out a partner’s stake in a company (JEDI) and in turn sold that stake to another company (ChewCo) which was created, owned, and operated by Enron (Rouse). This began the multi-layered strategy of transactions that allowed the company to hide debts, report inaccurate accounting errors, making the company appear much stronger and financially sound than it was in reality (Rouse). The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was created in 2002 by Senator Paul Sarbanes and Representative Michael Oxley and signed off by President Busch and introduced and enforced major changes to the regulation of corporate governance and financial practice. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act is arranged into eleven 'titles' (www.soxlaw.com). As far as compliance is...
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...of section 404 of the Sarbanes -Oxley Act on earning quality Law/431 July 23, 2012 The power of section 404 of the Sarbanes -Oxley Act on earning quality In this article, the authors study the effect of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on two primary characteristics of earnings quality, reliability and relevance in combination. Using a difference-in-differences method, they find that firms that were required to comply with Section 404 during the first 2 years of its implementation improved the reliability of their reported earnings more than control firms that were not required to comply . More than seven years after the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX hereafter), the effectiveness of the regulation remains controversial, with the recent financial crisis fueling this debate further (Altamura & Beatty, 2010). In this article, we study the effect of the internal control requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act(Section 404 hereafter) on the earnings quality of all complying firms. We are motivated to study this issue because Section 404 is one of the most visible and tangible changes brought by SOX,1 the most far-reaching reform in the financial reporting and corporate governance requirements for public companies since the 1930s dimensions. For example, Section 404 mandates the disclosure of internal control-related problems, whereas FDICIA does not. Such differences may lead to different effectiveness of the two regulations...
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...The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 Abstract This paper addresses financial analysis standards legislated in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). The focus will be on how the legislation enhanced the role of auditing and auditing firms, the impact of whistleblower legislation, and the recent Supreme Court decision. The paper attempts to show that though there continues to be opposition to SOX’s financial reform legislation, there is a case to be made in support of SOX. The research relies on historical data, such as the Enron scandal, and the recent decision by the United States Supreme Court decision that deems SOX as constitutional, to support that legislation is a necessary requirement in today’s global corporate environment, in which some of the largest corporations have proven that, left to their own devices, they will gravitate toward corporate malfeasance. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002: WorldCom. Enron. Adelphia. Global Crossing. What do all these companies have in common? They will always be synonymous with the following: financial fraud, corporate malfeasance, internal corruption, and the reason behind the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). Not since the Crash of 1929 and the subsequent passage of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Bumgardner, 2003, para. 2), had the country seen such a push for financial reform. Triggered by investigations into corporate fraud by some of the largest and most successful corporations...
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...Systems Research Paper Abstract The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) was enacted into law in 2002 in the wake of corporation financial reporting scandals involving large publicly held companies. SOX instituted new strict financial regulations with the intent of improving accounting practices and protecting investors from corporate misconduct. SOX requires corporate executives to vouch for the accuracy of financial statements, and to institute and monitor effective internal controls over financial reporting. The cost of implementing an effective internal control structure are onerous, and SOX inflicts opportunity costs upon an enterprise as executives have become more risk adverse due to fears of incrimination. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) was created by SOX to oversee the accounting process and dictate independence requirements for auditors and auditing committees. The PCAOB proposed regulations must be approved by the SEC before they are enacted. Since the passage of SOX, the IT department has become critical in designing and implementing the internal controls in company accounting information systems. The Information Technology Governance Institute (ITGI) created a framework called Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (COBIT) to provide guidance for companies to implement and monitor IT governance. Accounting Information Systems Research Paper The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 changed the landscape of corporate financial...
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...A Primer on Sarbanes-Oxley The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was declared a law in 2002 (Orin, 2008). The primary purpose of this new law was to convey meaning to restoring faith in corporate America’s financial endeavors (Orin, 2008). The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was meant to aid and protect investors, who suffered extreme losses because of corporations having poor financial performances, which was the case before the law was enacted (Orin, 2008). Distinctively, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was meant to concentrate on accounting fraudulence by holding corporations accountable for disclosing accurate and reliable financial records. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was also meant to ensure corporate executive leadership acted ethically throughout daily business (Orin, 2008). Assess the Effectiveness of SOX Legislations Key Ethical Components of the SOX To efficiently and effectively implement the Sarbanes-Oxley Act corporations need to broaden their views and focus on the greater purpose of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Beasley and Hermanson (2009) believe to accomplish this corporate leadership need to focus on the following: • Value the purpose of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. • Comprehend the effect of fraudulence behavior. • Concentrate on ethical attitudes pertaining to rationalizing fraudulence behavior. • Making the Sarbanes Oxley Act the foundation to compliance to improve governance and control. • Investigate and implement enterprise risk management (para 5). Value...
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...Sarbanes-Oxley Act Article LAW/421 Sarbanes-Oxley Act Article The article chosen is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the legacy of Enron. This act was passed after corporate scandals that involved the regulatory mismanagement and fraud of Enron. This article review will cover topics on how the Sarbanes-Oxley and the collapse of Enron in which affected the ethical decision-making processes in business environments and criminal penalties for which the act provides. Decision-Making in Business Environment “A new generation of corporate leaders has entered the boardroom since Enron’s bankruptcy in December 2001” (Peregrine, 2011, Para. 2). The Act of Sarbanes-Oxley was passed to restore the integrity and to renew consumer confidence in the financial markets. The Sarbanes-Oxley regulates three areas: financial reporting, auditing, and corporate governance. The Sarbanes-Oxley requires businesses and corporations to develop and implement a code of ethics, collaboration, and confidentiality. The significance of this law is to viewed context that affect corporate governance and the exercise duties of officers and directors. Decision-making provides standards and guidelines to those employees of all levels. “This new law impacted accounting and financial decision making because it required companies to be responsible for their financial decisions; it also regulated the way board members and auditors interact, as well as, recognizing and regulating the problem of auditors working...
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...Sarbanes- Oxley Act Impact of Law Max McKay Business Law & Ethics Professor DeLange May 17, 2007 Impact of Sarbanes-Oxley Act Not only were billions of dollars lost in corporate accounting scandals involving Enron and Worldcom, thousands of jobs on top of an immeasurable amount of credibility was also lost in the process. As most everyone knows by now, or should know, 2002 became a turning point in the world of business. Publicly traded companies such as Enron and Worldcom were caught by the SEC misrepresenting financial statements, quickly leading to steep downward spiral in stock prices of publicly traded firms throughout the market. Once considered to be one of the top five accounting firms, Anderson was fined $500,000 and given five years of probation following the Enron scandal. The firm initially lost over 1,000 employees and is no longer audits corporations (CBCNews, 2002). As a result of these scandals, investors lost millions of dollars as the marketplace took a big hit that day nearly five years ago. On June 25, 2002, it was announced that Worldcom was a part of the largest corporate fraud case in American history at the time, with numbers reaching up to $3.8 billion (Snee, 2007). Mr. Snee goes on to say that stocks sunk to new lows on news of the fraud, as investor’s increasingly lost faith in companies’ earnings statements. As a result of such fraudulent activities associated with Worldcom and Enron, President George Bush signed the Sarbanes-Oxley...
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...Systems Research Paper Abstract The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) was enacted into law in 2002 in the wake of corporation financial reporting scandals involving large publicly held companies. SOX instituted new strict financial regulations with the intent of improving accounting practices and protecting investors from corporate misconduct. SOX requires corporate executives to vouch for the accuracy of financial statements, and to institute and monitor effective internal controls over financial reporting. The cost of implementing an effective internal control structure are onerous, and SOX inflicts opportunity costs upon an enterprise as executives have become more risk adverse due to fears of incrimination. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) was created by SOX to oversee the accounting process and dictate independence requirements for auditors and auditing committees. The PCAOB proposed regulations must be approved by the SEC before they are enacted. Since the passage of SOX, the IT department has become critical in designing and implementing the internal controls in company accounting information systems. The Information Technology Governance Institute (ITGI) created a framework called Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (COBIT) to provide guidance for companies to implement and monitor IT governance. Accounting Information Systems Research Paper The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 changed the landscape of corporate financial...
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...“President George W. Bush signed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act ( SOX) of 2002 (Public Law 107-204) on Tuesday, July 30, 2002. Congress presented the act to the president on July 26, 2002, after passage in the Senate by a 99-0 vote and in the House by a 423-3 margin” (The sarbanes-oxley act). A new federal law was passed in reaction to corporate scandals such as the Enron, WorldCom, Tyco cases. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act puts extreme pressure on companies accounting practices and annual reports. Simply put, the act was created to protect investors from corporate corruption, and accounting misconduct. This act also created a new agency called the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or PCAOB. The main purpose of Sarbanes Oxley Act is to ensure that the corporate sector works with transparency and provides full disclosure of information as and when required. The transparency purpose of Sarbanes Oxley Act is fulfilled by ensuring real time disclosure of information, the adherence to guidelines of the Generally Accepted Accounting practices, full financial details being made available of all the transactions not mentioned in balance sheet. This purpose of Sarbanes Oxley Act is also fulfilled by an expanded disclosure of financial and non financial control measures in force in every company. Similarly, public certification of these internal controls and financial measures also helps fulfilled the purpose of Sarbanes Oxley Act (Bing). The objective of Sarbanes Oxley Act is to make company audit committees...
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