• Sarbanes-Oxley is a US law passed in 2002 to strengthen Corporate governance and restore investor confidence. This Act affects corporate governance, financial disclosures, and public accounting. This Act was passed directly in response to the collapse of Enron, WorldCom and others.

• The Act was sponsored by US Senator Paul Sarbanes and US Representative Michael Oxley

• Administered by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Sox publishes rules on requirements and defines which records are to be stored and for how long, stating that all business records, including electronic records and electronic messages, must be saved for not less than five years.

• Failure to comply with SOX can result in fines, imprisonment, or both.

• The Sarbanes Oxley Act also made it illegal for companies to take negative action against employees for blowing the whistle on various improper financial practices; it has, in fact, become one of the most important Whistleblower protection laws.

• Legislation is wide ranging and establishes new or enhanced standards for all US public company Boards, Management and public accounting firms

• The law contains 11 titles, or sections, ranging from additional Corporate Board responsibilities to criminal penalties. Requires Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) to implement rulings on requirements to comply with the new law.

The Sarbanes-Oxley addresses the following:

• establishes new standards for Corporate Boards and Audit Committees
• establishes new accountability standards and criminal penalties for Corporate Management
• establishes new independence standards for External auditors
• establishes a Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) under the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) to oversee public accounting firms and issue accounting standards