Sarbanes Oxley Act, 2002.

Paper Summary:

This paper explains and discusses the Sarbanes Oxley Act with particular reference to the section 404. The author provides background information to the Act and explores the environment that spurred its creation and the need for such legislation. The author goes on to explore the provisions of Section 404 together with an interpretation of internal control and the consequences that SOX 404 has on company affairs. The paper ends with a conclusion drawn on the impact of the section inferred from the information presented in the paper.

Outline:
Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002: Background
Section 404 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act: Introduction
Internal Controls Feature of section 404 of the Act:
Auditing and the impacts on auditors
Other unanticipated events
Technology and system requirements
Criticism and Review
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"The Sarbanes-Oxley Act came at the wake of a lot of scandals and apprehension and there was a lot of media pressure in its enactment that was caused by the collapse of Enron. This act provides stiff punishments for those at the helm of companies and fines of over $5 million for violation of the laws. (Snedaker, 2006) The act is named after senator Sarbanes and Oxley who are the architects of the act. Sarbanes-Oxley Act was meant to introduce regulation to corporate governance and financial accounting. The act brought in mandatory rules regarding the internal financial controls. (Romano, 2005) The Sarbanes Oxley act of 2002 was assented to by the President on 30th July 2002 and principally applies to the issues as stated in the securities act, that is public issues and companies with shares and securities subscribed by the public, and all companies with assets of over $10 million and all companies with over 500 security holders come under its purview. The public companies, investment and securities traders, foreign companies, and others that trade securities at the national securities exchange are bound by the law. (Sonnelitter, 2005) There was an opinion current even before passing of the act that auditing was performing at low standards in U.S. public companies, and following that there came the act to reform accounting which was the 'Investor Protection Act of 2002' and the 'Public Company Accounting Reform'. The impact of the Sarbanes Oxley Act was more to form the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board -- PCAOB that would then enforce the earlier accounting act. The addition was the mandatory disclosure required. (Coates, 2007)"

Sample of Sources Used:

• Anderson, David R. (2006) "Modern Business Statistics" Thomson South-Western.
• Bullock, Jane A; Haddow, George. (2006) "Introduction to Homeland Security" Butterworth-Heinemann.
• Chew, Pat K. (1993) "Directors' and Officers' Liability" Practicing Law Institute.
• Coates, John C. (2007) "The Goals and Promise of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act" Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 21 no. 1, pp: 383-425.
• Cobb, Charles G. (2005) "Enterprise Process Mapping: Integrating Systems for Compliance and Business ..." American Society for Quality.

More papers on Sarbanes Oxley Act, 2002.:

• Analytical Essay # 67962 : "Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002"
• Analytical Essay # 128524 : "Sarbanes Oxley Act (2002)"
• Term Paper # 124215 : "Sarbanes-Oxley Act"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: