An Overview Of The Text In Sarbanes Oxley Act

Sarbanes Oxley Act text of 2002, which is also known as the 'Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002, brought radical changes in the functioning of U.S. companies. Commonly known as SOX or the Sarbox, the need for this Act was desperately felt because of a number of U.S. corporate houses that were revealed to be involved in accounting scandals. Thus, to ensure corporate accountability, the Sarbanes Oxley Act came into force.

With a number of sections and titles, Sarbanes Oxley Act text laid down stringent measures.

Section 1 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act text consists of short title of the Act and the table of contents. Section 2 presents the Sarbanes Oxley Act definition and also defines all the terms which find a mention in the Sarbanes Oxley Act text. Section 3 deals with the Commission rules and enforcement of the Sarbanes Oxley Act. Cease-and-desist proceedings related to the Sarbanes Oxley Act also find a mention here as well as the enforcement by federal banking agencies. Thus, the Sarbanes Oxley Act text is organized in sections different sections and eleven titles.

Title 1 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act text presents the regulations about the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. This title has nine sections. Section 101 of the first title of Sarbanes Oxley Act deals with the establishment and administrative provisions of the board. Section 102 is about registration with the board. Section 103 is about auditing, control of quality, as well as standards and rules of independence. Section 104 makes provisions for inspections of registered public accounting firms. Section 105 deals with investigative and disciplinary procedures. Foreign public accounting firms are dealt in section 108, accounting standards in Section 108 and funding is discussed in section 109 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act text.

Title II of the Sarbanes Oxley Act text gives details about independence of auditor. This title has 9 sections Section 201 to Section 209. Section 201 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act text mentions the services which are outside the scope of practice of auditors. The Pre-approval requirements are mentioned in Section 202 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act text. Audit partner rotation is dealt with in Section 203. Section 204 talks about the reports by auditors to audit committees. Conforming amendments are talked about in section 205, conflicts of interests in section 206, and about commission authority in the section 208 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act text. Section 209 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act text is about considerations by appropriate State regulatory authorities.

The other sections of the Sarbanes Oxley Act text are organized in titles 3 to 11. Each of these titles of the Sarbanes Oxley Act text have anywhere between 1 to 9 sections. These titles of Sarbanes Oxley Act text deal with areas ranging from corporate fraud and accountability to corporate responsibility. There are dedicated sections to deal with Sarbanes Oxley act compliance matters.

The Sarbanes Oxley Act text is just 5 years old now but its sweeping, radical changes as enshrined in its provisions are still a hot topic of discussion in most corporate circles.