Compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)

Topic

Compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)

Instructions

Corporate fraud has cost businesses and its shareholders millions of dollars and has been the source of legislation and regulations attempting to provide oversight and guidance to corporate boards, executives, and practitioners. Think about how these laws have changed the practices of corporate executives and, in light of the Enron scandal et al., has it been enough?

Assignment Steps 

Resources: Legal Environment of Business: Online Commerce, Business Ethics, and Global Issues: Ch. 16 (pp. 364 -368), 22, and 23.

Scenario: The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) has been in effect since 2002 and has cost businesses millions of dollars in personnel and administrative costs. Your company is in the process of “going public,” has underwritten its Initial Public Offering (IPO), and filed its registration statement with the Securities Exchange Commission. Your current executive team has asked you to create a plan ensuring SOX compliance is followed once you become a publicly traded company.

Review the pertinent sections of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) Act.  For purposes of this proposal to the board, only concern yourself with the compliance provisions of SOX (Sections 302, 401, 404, 409, and 802).

Create a maximum 1,050-word proposal to the board outlining the compliance project necessary to implement SOX. 

Cite a minimum of one reference for the five content areas taken from a business or legal resource. One resource must be from the University Library. 

Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines. 

Answer preview

As the company at stake is aimed at going public, there eminent need to develop a
strategy upon which to ensure is adheres to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX)
provisions, and beyond. Sox imposes significant requirements for the companies in the listing
of United States (U.S.) stock exchange, particularly on matters relate to assessment and
oversight to the control systems supporting external financial disclosures (United States
Securities and Exchange Commission, 2009). In this paper, an extensive presentation of what
the company needs to enact and implement to ensure transparency in financial disclosures is
made, with substantial guidance on SOX provisions under Sections 302, 404, 401, 409, and
802.

Word count: 1207