Sarbanes-Oxley Act

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (HR3763) is considered the most significant change to federal securities laws since the New Deal. It came in the wake of a series of corporate financial scandals, including those affecting Enron, Arthur Andersen, and WorldCom.

Its major provisions include:

• Certification of financial reports by CEOs and CFOs
• Ban on personal loans to Executive Officers and Directors
• Accelerated reporting of trades by insiders
• Prohibition on insider trades during pension fund blackout periods
• Disgorgement of CEO and CFO compensation and profits
• Additional disclosure
• Auditor independence, including outright bans on certain types of work and pre-certification by the company's Audit Committee[?] of all other non-audit work
• Criminal and civil penalties for securities violations

Whilst addressing a number of domestic concerns, the Act has been criticised by foreign regulators for seeking jurisdiction over their national affairs.

External links:

• http://www.perkinscoie.com/resource/business/sarbanes.htm
• http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=107_cong_bills&docid=f:h3763enr.tst.pdf