Regulatory Compliance
Sarbanes-Oxley
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 grants the SEC increased regulatory control, lengthens the statute of limitations and imposes greater criminal and compensatory punishment on executives and companies that do not comply. Sarbanes-Oxley affects how public organizations and accounting firms deal with corporate governance, financial disclosure and the practice of public accounting. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires certain companies to attest to the effectiveness of their IT and financial controls when they file 10-K reports for fiscal years that end after Nov. 15.
Section 404: Management Assessment of Internal Controls
A Requires each annual report of an issuer to contain an "internal control report", which shall:
1) state the responsibility of management for establishing and maintaining an adequate internal control structure and procedures for financial reporting; and
2) contain an assessment, as of the end of the issuer's most recent fiscal year, of the effectiveness of the internal control structure and procedures of the issuer for financial reporting.
