The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was enacted in response to the publics' loss of faith in the governance of public companies. This Act affects the functions of executives and management of public companies including the Chief-Executive-Officer (CEO) and Chief-Financial-Officer (CFO).
The Act created the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. This board has the authority to enforce auditing, quality control and ethical standards for public companies. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has adopted many of the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for auditing and reporting financial information.
A primary goal of Sarbanes-Oxley is to increase investor confidence in public companies.
Each quarter, CEO's and CFO's are required to certify that financial disclosure controls and procedures are operating effectively.
Forward to: Key Provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley