Beyond Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance
Chapter One
SARBANES-OXLEY
ACT OVERVIEW
Enron, Arthur Andersen, WorldCom, Tyco, Adelphia. These companies
have become household names mostly because of their past display of corporate
greed, fraud, and accounting improprieties. The offenses of these
few organizations are not representative of the majority of more than
15,000 public companies in the United States, yet the results of their
abuses are far reaching. When the details of corruption emerged, and stock
prices and retirement savings plummeted, the American public became
outraged and demanded reform. On July 30, the U.S. Congress answered
this public outcry for change and enacted the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
(the "Act").
The Act was signed into law to improve the accuracy and transparency
of financial reports and corporate disclosures, as well as to reinforce the
importance of corporate ethical standards. As a result, the Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC) issued rules outlining the provisions of the ... read full excerpt from Beyond Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance: Effective Enterprise Risk Management ebook
