The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (often shortened to SOX) is legislation in response to the high profile Enron and WorldCom financial scandals to protect shareholders and the general public from accounting errors and fraudulent business practices. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act introduced stringent new rules "to protect investors by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures made pursuant to the securities laws". Sarbanes-Oxley is not a set of business practices and does not specify how a business should store records; rather, Sarbanes-Oxley defines which records are to be stored and for how long. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act states that all business records, including electronic records and electronic messages, must be saved for "not less than five years." The consequences for non-compliance are fines, imprisonment, or both. Sarbanes-Oxley is actually named after its main architects, Senator Paul Sarbanes and Representative Michael Oxley. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act is organized into eleven titles, although sections 302, 404, 401, 409, 802 and 906 are the most significant with respect to compliance (Sarbanes Oxley section 404 seems to cause most concern) and internal control. In addition, Sarbanes-Oxley also created a public company accounting board. One of the most remarkable aspects of Sarbanes-Oxley is the high profile in the general public and media arena. The focus on Sarbanes-Oxley is certainly intense, creating yet another clear motivation for compliance. There is simply no escaping it… - OR - |