Sarbanes Oxley Act 2002 – An Overview Of Titles

Sarbanes Oxley Act 2002 is a U.S. federal law that was passed on July 30, 2002 when President George W. Bush signed it. According to President Bush, the act is one of the most far reaching reforms for business practices in the U.S. It has now become necessary for every publicly traded company in U.S. to ensure Sarbanes Oxley compliance. Regular Sarbanes Oxley Act training must be give to the personnel for this purpose.

Because of a number of corporate scandals involving big names like Enron and WorldCom in the context of financial irregularities, there was an urgent need to address the issues. Thus, the Sarbanes Oxley Act 2002 was passed.

Sarbanes Oxley Act 2002 comprises a number of titles and sections. The first section of Sarbanes Oxley Act 2002 is the short title and table of contents. The definitions are given in the second section of Sarbanes Oxley Act 2002. Section 3 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act 2002 discusses the Commission rules and enforcement.

Coming to the titles of the Sarbanes Oxley Act 2002, there are eleven titles in all in the Act. Each Title has sections from any where between 1 to 9. Dedicated sections are present for Sarbanes Oxley Act compliance. Lets find out what each title focuses on.

Title one of Sarbanes Oxley Act 2002 has sections that establish and detail the new Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

Title Two discusses the independence of the auditor so that work is carried out effectively in an objective manner.

The Third title focuses on corporate responsibility. There are sections dealing with public company audit committees, corporate responsibility for financial reports as well as insider trading and investor funds. Note, however, section 302 of this title is much debated in corporate circles in recent times.

The Fourth title deals with disclosing of financial information. This title also includes the Section 404 which makes the management responsible for assessing the company's internal control structure.

The Fifth title is about the conflict of interest among analysts. The only section in this title deals with the way security analysts are treated by security associations.

The Sixth title gives an overview about the resources and authorities of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Seventh title talks about Studies and Reports, GAO study as well as study and report of violations and violators.

Title Eight of Sarbanes Oxley Act 2002 discusses about accountability of corporate and criminal fraud accountability.

Title nine is about enhancements in penalty for white collar crimes.

Title ten is about corporate tax returns.

Title eleven deals with corporate fraud and accountability. With information on the titles in Sarbanes Oxley Act 2002 and what they comprise, you now have a brief idea about the act.