Sarbanes-Oxley Act

Research Paper # 52189

Business > Finance, Investment and Banking
Law > Business

Sarbanes-Oxley Act

This paper explores various aspects of the 2002 federal Sarbanes-Oxley Act, affecting financial disclosure practices in public organizations.

8,587 words () | 10 sources | APA | 2004 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper provides an in-depth examination of this Act, which is promoted to effect change in the corporate environment, generally, by stressing issues of public accountability and disclosure in the financial operations of companies. It explains how this is an Act that represents the government's and the Security and Exchange Commission's interest in promoting ethical standards in terms of financial disclosure in the corporate environment.

From the Paper:

"Nonetheless, though, these are types or categorizations of companies that are directly affected by the mandates of SOX in way that is perceived by the company to be positive or negative. From a negative viewpoint, in terms of counterargument, regulatory measures such as the act are seen to be a burden that comes in the wake of Enron-like scandals and saddles companies with impeccable ethical credentials with the new baggage of compliance, which in some cases tends to incur extra costs, whether the company deserves it or not. This perspective concentrates on a negative reaction to change in the demand environment, and this point of view would have a compromise with the regulatory measures or perhaps some sort of scaled individual reckoning rather than across-the-board, sweeping changes that include different categorizations of public and private interest."