The Ethics Of The Sarbanes Oxley Act - 1703 Words

In the past, many corporate executive have committed various forms scandals in their organizations. Such fraudulent arts are unethical and immoral behavior. This led the US government to form legislation in order to control fraudulent activities; mostly performed by senior officers in the organization. In view of this, this paper will address the following: historical summary on SOX enactment, the key ethical components of SOX, social responsibility implications regarding mandatory publication of corporate ethics, whether the criticisms of SOX implication presents an unfair burden on smaller organizations and suggestions on the improvement of SOX legislation. Brief Historical Summary on SOX Enactment The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was introduced by Senator Paul Sarbanes, a Democrat from Maryland and Congressman Michael Oxley, a Republican from Ohio. President George W. Bush signed the bill into law in July 30, 2002. SOX enactment is an act that was formulated as a result of corporate scandals from Enron, WorldCom, Adelphia, and Tyco. However, Congress succumbed to pressure from the public for the government to take action about the unethical behavior of company executives of publicly –traded companies. Thus, the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) was to restore the integrity and public confidence in financial markets. During these scandals, there were flagrant disregard to Generally Accepted Accounting Practices (GAAP). For example, according to Washington Post (2005), WorldComShow MoreRelatedThe Ethics Of Sarbanes Oxley Act1667 Words   |  7 PagesAbstract Sarbanes-Oxley Act was enforced in the past but caught everyone’s attention when drastic audit failures from Enron and Worldcom happened. An enhanced act (SOX) was enacted in 2002 improving audit quality. In particular, section 404 provides guidance of assessment to internal control. For an accounting perspective, internal control is a system for internal and external auditors to measure performance and recommend the improvement of the control. It is definitely correct that both enforcementRead MoreThe Ethics Of The Sarbanes Oxley Act1497 Words   |  6 Pagesmarkets. Within weeks of the scandal, Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. This act the has made significant adjustments in the accounting industry by require the company CEO take the United States criminal responsibility for company s financial reporting authenticity. Strict audit the company’ regulations and supervision, prohibit of the company insider loans and to require more timely disclosure of financ ial information (Laffie). This act greatly strengthened criminal penalties for company’s financialRead MoreThe Ethics Of The Sarbanes Oxley Act1778 Words   |  8 Pagesaccounting methods, the financial industry has been plagued with one disaster after another involving numerous scandals from top leading American companies. Consequently, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was passed in 2002 compromising eleven sections that are generated to insure the responsibilities of the company’s managers and executives. This act identifies criminal penalties for particular unethical practices and currently has new policies that a corporation must follow in their financial reporting. The followingRead MoreThe Ethics Of The Sarbanes Oxley Act Of 2002 ( Sox )858 Words   |  4 Pagessmall family business could have implemented to refrain the perpetrators from fraudulent incidents, protect organizational assets and the organization’s going concern. Corporate fraud was the cornerstone for the strict implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). SOX implements many compliance regulations, but one of its regulations, specifically Section 404, relates to an organization’s internal control procedures with the purpose of protecting organizational assets and investors’ interestRead MoreThe Sarbanes Oxley Act Of 20021563 Words   |  7 PagesThe Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) was enacted to bring back public trust in markets. Building trust requires ethics within organizations. Through codes of ethics, organizations conduct themselves in a manner that promotes public trust. Through defining a code of ethics, organizations can follow, the market becomes fair for investors to have confidence in the integrity of the disclosures and financial reports given to them. The code of ethics includes the promotion of honest and ethical conductRead MoreSarbanes Oxley1476 Words   |  6 Pagesfirms. Sarbanes Oxley has m ade many changes to many companies. The major financial scandals have impacted many investors and required more regulations to avert this problems. Sarbanes Oxley has tried to increase ethics in the upper management in many public companies. The upper management has tried to improve on social responsibility and increase the public view. There are many critics to Sarbanes Oxley and many different suggestions on improvements. History of Sarbanes-Oxley Act ScandalsRead MoreThe Sarbanes Oxley Act Of 20021614 Words   |  7 PagesThe Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) was enacted to bring back public trust in markets. Building trust requires ethics within organizations. Through codes of ethics, organizations are put in line to conduct themselves in a manner that promotes public trust. Through defining a code of ethics, organizations can follow, market becomes fair for investors to have confidence in the integrity of the disclosures and financial reports given to them. The code of ethics include â€Å"the promotion of honest andRead MoreSarbanes Oxley Act Paper934 Words   |  4 PagesRunning Head: SARBANES OXLEY ACT Sarbanes Oxley Act Introduction Sarbanes Oxley Act is focused towards identifying accounting frauds in different public companies. This paper discusses about various reasons for the introduction of Sarbanes Oxley Act and causes that has been overlooked. Causes for Sarbanes-Oxley Act Sarbanes Oxley Act is US federal law, which is established in order to set out the some standards for accounting firms, public company boards and managementRead MoreThe Tax Advantages Of Sarbanes Oxley Essay969 Words   |  4 PagesDisadvantages of Sarbanes-Oxley Afua Nyamekye Liberty University The Tax Advantages and Disadvantages of Sarbanes-Oxley The 1990s and the early 2000s was a time that the world witness an explosion of fraud in the corporate world. Corporate fraud like Enron, HealthSouth, Waste Management, WorldCom, Lehman Brothers, etc. was so disturbing that lawmakers felt the need for a law to help curb down these frauds. Lawmakers came out with Sarbanes Oxley named after Senator Paul Sarbanes and Rep. MichaelRead MoreEssay about Details of the Sarbanes Oxley Act 20021060 Words   |  5 Pagesfindings properly. Since the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, there have been provisions that have directly affected auditors. This paper will include the details of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, how ethics and independence have affected auditors, as well implementation of new standards based on the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, provided changes in the regulations of the issuers in the public structures in the United States, as well as non-United States issuers. The Act applies to all issuers including