...Auditor independence refers to the position of the external auditor’s level of personal and financial ties to a particular organization which can sometimes be complex. When deciding whether to accept an auditing engagement, one must judge their independence and objectivity. This is why integrity is imperative in business, especially within the world of audit. Congress passed the law, The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) that applies to publicly held companies and their auditors. It was intended to protect investors by improving accuracy within the laws of the government (SEC, 2001). In addition, it also assists in prevention of financial statement fraud and make items more transparent for protection of the organization. To achieve these parameters,...
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...The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 The Act & Impact ACC 410, Jackie Lewis, Ph.D. Abstract The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, officially named the “Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002”, is recognized to be the most noteworthy U.S. federal disclosure and corporate governance legislation since the Securities Act of1933 (the Securities Act) and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act). Furthermore, the provisions of the Act are momentous enough that it is considered by many to be the most significant change to the federal securities laws in the U.S. since the New Deal. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 The Act & Impact The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was signed into law following the wake of corporate financial scandals. Many large companies such as Enron, WorldCom, and Arthur Anderson were affected. The Act provides a solid set of government rules that are aimed to discourage and punish corporate and accounting fraud, as well as corruption. SOX is designed to carry out these tasks by imposing severe penalties for wrong doings, while protecting the interest of workers and shareholders. The stated purposed to protect investors is maintained by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures, imposing strict rules for audits and auditors of publically traded companies, preventing insider trading and deals, requiring companies to adopt strict internal controls, and increasing the penalties...
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...Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 U.S. Senator Paul Sarbnes of Maryland and U.S. Representative Michael Oxley of Ohio followed a series of corporate failures, which inacted the SOX Act based on Enron’s bankruptcy and other key organizations such as Worldcom, Tyco, Xerox, and Adelphia who were among the United States organizations executives in the headlines for misdemeanors and multi-billion dollar reassertions," (Dembinski, Lager, Cornford, Bonvin, 2005). The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, (SOX) was incorporated to strengthen the internal improvements and oversight of corporate control. The primary purpose is to shield and protect shareholders from fradualent activities within the public sector and the stock market. The table below provides a list of a few provisions implemented in SOX Act. Section 302 | Section 401 | Section 404 | Section 409 | Section 802 | Requires that corporate administration confirm that they have assessed the financial reports. | Requires that financial reports include disclosure about any applicable off-balance sheet responsibilities that may exist. | Requires organizations to state whether or not the business's internal mechanism technique are sufficient and operative. | Requires administration to update the public of important budgetary matters when they occur, instead of waiting until the annual or quarterly report. | Imposes penalties for abuses of the SOX rules, which could lead to fines or some jail time. | A description...
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...| Dr. Jennifer Scott | | | Ethics in Business | Case Study: A primer on Sarbanes- Oxley | <Add Learner comments here> ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Faculty Use Only ------------------------------------------------- <Faculty comments here> ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- <Faculty Name> <Grade Earned> <Writing Score> <Date Graded> Case Study: A primer on Sarbanes-Oxley Leona M. Anderson Dr. Jennifer Scott Northcentral University A Primer on Sarbanes-Oxley Introduction The problem to be investigated is whether Sarbanes-Oxley has helped to improve public trust in the markets and reduce non-ethical practices in business. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) was passed by the 107th Congress on July 30, 2002 (Sarbanes-Oxley, 2002) to provide protection to investors and shareholders as a result of fraudulent activities by some U.S. Corporations such as Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, and Adelphia, as well as other public companies (Jennings, 2012; Scott & Nganje, 2011). SOX introduced major regulatory changes which affect financial practice and corporate governance; and compliance is mandatory for ALL organizations (Guide to Sarbanes-Oxley, 2006). SOX is actually Public Law 107-204 and it is divided into eleven different parts...
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...The Cost and Benefits of Sarbanes-Oxley/ Forbes ARTICLE SYNOPSIS Sarbanes Oxley Act is “an act passed by U.S. Congress in 2002 to protect investors from the possibility of fraudulent accounting activities by corporations” (“Sarbanes Oxley Act,” 2015). In the review of “The Cost and Benefits of Sarbanes Oxley”, the article started out speaking on how the SOX Act 2002 was designed to protect investors, but many felt as if it was politically motivated. This Act will cause to lose risk takers and competiveness. In today’s business environment, the Sarbanes Oxley Act molded the ethical standpoint to numerous companies. The SOX Act 2002 was designed to keep companies honest. The criminal penalty for this law is a fine and/ or 25 years, but no more than 25 years. The stiff punishment minimized the fraudulent ideas from individuals and firms. The SOX Act 2002 increased the consumer confidence. “We only know that there were benefits in terms of financial reporting and corporate governance; that costs of implementation were higher for smaller companies; and that concerns about risk-taking and investment haven’t come to bear” (“The Cost and Benefit of Sarbanes and Oxley,” 2014, p. 1). This article also goes and talk about the cost and benefits of the Sarbanes Oxley Act 2002. SOX restrictions pushed several fraud-prone companies to go private. These was mainly the smaller companies that were fraud prone. I believe overall Sarbanes Oxley Act 2002 was good for the consumer...
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...Sarbanes Oxley Act Article Review Amber Means LAW 421 November 24, 2014 Jane Schneider Sarbanes Oxley Act Article Review Corporate fraud and mismanagement scandals in publically held companies, along with the public outcry for stricter regulations and accountability in early 2000 led to the passing of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX Act) of 2002. The primary purpose of the SOX Act is to overhaul the structure of corporate governance regulatory structure and impose stricter regulation and controls on the auditing, financial reporting and internal corporate governance procedures of corporations (Melvin, 2011). Significant portions of the Act are aimed towards creating solutions for specific failures in the auditing and accounting procedures of publically held companies. The Act also increased the jurisdiction, enforcement alternatives and enforcement budget of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) substantially (Melvin, 2011). The SOX Act of 2002 was implemented to effectively end corruption within publically held companies and restore the faith of investors in the corporate system, but how well is it working? The following is summary of the article “Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002 (SOX) – 10 years later” which discusses the intentions of the SOX Act, the corruption and legislative environment which led to its implementation, and how its implementation has affected corporations and investors. History of legislation Prior to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002, the Securities...
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...Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 Analysis Lisa Dupree LAW 421 November 30, 2014 Miriam Gold Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 Analysis The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was signed on the 30th day of July in year 2002 by President George W. Bush after passing through the Senate with a unanimous vote and passing through the House of Representatives with a 423-3 vote. When the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was enacted it directly affected CPAs, CPA firms that review public organizations, publicly traded organizations, their employees, their officers, their owners, those who have “more than 10 percent of the outstanding common shares” in a publicly traded company, lawyers who work for publicly traded companies, lawyers who have publicly traded organizations as clients, traders, merchants, financial specialist, and investors who work for publicly traded companies (NYSSCPA, 2014). The SOX act created a five affiliate oversight panel that is “subject to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) oversight” (NYSSCPA, 2014). The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) was created to investigate, inspect, discipline public accountant firms and also enforce compliance with the SOX act. Registration with the (PCAOB) is mandatory for all CPA firms. Lisa- The Enactment of the SOX Act Kris- SOX and Ethical Decision Making The SOX Act was created by Congress to protect investors and companies from irresponsible accounting practices. The purpose of the SOX Act is to ensure...
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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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...The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 Presented by: Ibrahim M. Conteh; Ruby Proctor Garcia; Kathleen M. Parry; Joseph M. Schmerling; Jaime Ulloa Auditing Theory and Practice 0902 ACCT422 4021 Due: April 29, 2009 Table of Contents Page Number What is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002? 3 Why was SOX established? 4 When did SOX take effect? 5 What companies were affected and how? 6 What does SOX compliance require? 9 Conclusion 11 References 13 What is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002? The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 – its official name being “Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002” – is recognized to be the most significant U.S. federal disclosure and corporate governance legislation since the Securities Act of 1933 (the Securities Act) and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act), and, the provisions of the Act are significant enough that it is considered by many to be the most significant change to federal securities laws in the U.S. since the New Deal. It is best understood, however, not as a piece of legislation centered on a new concept of regulation, but as a process which mandated that many major reforms be implemented as soon as possible (in some cases, within 30 days) on the precise schedule specified by Congress. In that sense, the Enron and WorldCom debacles provided the impetus of public outrage that...
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...Exchange Commission (SEC) has mandated that auditing for organizations must be completed by independent accountants. Today scrutiny of the accounting industry is more intense as laws are created to punish those that choose to falsify information. This paper aims to explain the importance of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) as it relates to the internal control, Chief Executive Officers and Chief Financial Officers. We will also identify the pros and cons of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) and changes that could be made in order to pose arguments from both sides of the act. Introduction In the early 2000’s, one of the darkest times ever experienced in the history of accounting occurred due to numerous scandals. The results of these scandals from companies lead to terrifying actions, which included the downfall of one of the largest accounting corporations, Arthur Anderson, for their help with Enron. Companies such as Enron, Tyco, and WorldCom have led to the passing of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) due to their financial reporting scandals (Forbes, 2013). With the passing of SOX in 2002, the falsification of financial statements by companies became a criminal offense. The passing of the SOX act posed as a challenge to many companies as it enforced businesses to make ethical decisions. If companies fail to comply with this law, they will be accountable for their actions. Prosecution and jail time are some of the punishments put in effect if CEOs and CFOs are found guilty of...
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...Adoption of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 Accounting 100: Accounting I March 19, 2011 Strayer University Adoption of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, commonly called the SOX, is a United States federal law that was passed in response to a number of major corporate and accounting scandals (veracode.com/solutions/sox-compliance.html, 2011). The act was passed to strengthen corporate governance and restore investor confidence. It was sponsored by US Senator Paul Sarbanes and US Representative Michael Oxley. The act was passed in response to a number of major corporate and accounting scandals, the most popular being Enron, in the United States (audit-is.com/legislation/sox.htm, 2011). As a result of Enron’s scandal and public bankruptcy, congress passed the act which required all public companies that have business in the United States to have an accounting framework (Nelson & Stanley, 2011). The Sarbanes-Oxley Act made it mandatory for all public companies to contain internal financial auditing controls and to present the results in annual assessments. The results must be reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on an annual basis. Furthermore, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires all public companies to have an external auditor. The external auditor will audit the company’s internal control reports of management and their financial statements (Baker, Bealing Jr, Nelson & Stanley, 2011). In this...
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...The Impact of Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 on Accounting and Finance Departments Danika Grace Brown Lakeland College Kellett School of Business – BlendEd BA 772 Advanced Industrial Accounting II Instructor Mary Diederich March 10, 2015 Table of Contents Abstract 2 Overview of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 3 About SOX 4 Reporting and Compliance 5 Risk Assessment and Control 6 Interview at Company X 7 Standards for Corporations and Officers 8 Auditing and Financial Reporting 9 Future Impact of SOX 10 Conclusion 11 References 13 Abstract Sarbanes-Oxley is the response from Congress in regards to the financial industry collapse that happened over a decade ago. Due to unethical reporting from corporations, Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) is a United States federal law that set new or enhanced standards for all U.S. public company boards, management and public accounting firms. As a result of SOX, top management must individually certify the accuracy of financial information. In addition, penalties for fraudulent financial activity are much more severe. Furthermore, SOX increased the oversight role of boards of directors and the independence of the outside auditors who review the accuracy of corporate financial statements. This paper will look to provide an oversight of the law and how it pertains to the standards in Accounting and Finance departments nowadays. In addition, this paper will also touch on the ongoing costs and benefits of the now standard...
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...What exactly is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act? Who does it protect? Who benefits from SOX most? I will discuss what the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) is its key components, and its primary objective. Also, I will discuss the criticisms surrounding the SOX act. Why it is important to enforce the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Finally, I will discuss if the SOX has achieved its goals. 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 (Bing, 2007). This basically means that corporations must keep good records of what goes on in their business, not just for their benefit, but just in case of an audit, then they’ll have all their transactions ready to be reviewed and to keep future corporate scandals down. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was passed by Congress on July 30, 2002. The law forced public companies to spend much more money having their books thoroughly audited, and it increased the penalties for executives who defrauded investors. Since the bill's passage and implementation, nervous investors who had yanked trillions of dollars from the market have returned (Farrell, 2007). The men behind the Sarbanes-Oxley Act consist of U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, New York Stock Exchange CEO John Thain and former AIG chief Maurice "Hank" Greenberg. Even though their voices my appear to be isolated, Charles Niemeier a member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board...
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...CLASS PROJECT GM 520: BUSINESS REGULATIONS: SARBANES-OXLEY August 14, 2006 Need a Sarbanes Oxley Compliance Plan? The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, sponsored by US Senator Paul Sarbanes and US Representative Michael Oxley, represents the biggest change to federal securities laws in decades. Effective in 2006, all publicly-traded companies are required to submit an annual report of the effectiveness of their internal accounting controls to the SEC. It came as a result of the large corporate financial scandals involving Enron, WorldCom, Global Crossing and Arthur Andersen. Provisions of the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) detail criminal and civil penalties for noncompliance, certification of internal auditing, and increased financial disclosure. It affects public U.S. companies and non-U.S. companies with a U.S. presence. SOX is all about corporate governance and financial disclosure. High-profile business failures culminating in a media fixation on Enron called into question the effectiveness of business’ self-regulatory process as well as the effectiveness of the audit to uphold public trust in capital markets. Legislation to address shortcomings in financial reporting was slowly progressing in Congress. The sudden collapse of WorldCom guaranteed swift congressional action. President Bush signed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in to Law on July 22, 2002. The most significant legislation affecting the accounting profession since 1933. Developing...
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...What exactly is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act? Who does it protect? Who benefits from SOX most? I will discuss what the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) is its key components, and its primary objective. Also, I will discuss the criticisms surrounding the SOX act. Why it is important to enforce the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Finally, I will discuss if the SOX has achieved its goals. 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 (Bing, 2007). This basically means that corporations must keep good records of what goes on in their business, not just for their benefit, but just in case of an audit, then they’ll have all their transactions ready to be reviewed and to keep future corporate scandals down. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was passed by Congress on July 30, 2002. The law forced public companies to spend much more money having their books thoroughly audited, and it increased the penalties for executives who defrauded investors. Since the bill's passage and implementation, nervous investors who had yanked trillions of dollars from the market have returned (Farrell, 2007). The men behind the Sarbanes-Oxley Act consist of U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, New York Stock Exchange CEO John Thain and former AIG chief Maurice "Hank" Greenberg. Even though their voices my appear to be isolated, Charles Niemeier a member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board...
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