	Title I: Public Company Accounting Oversight Board

Section 101 establishes the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (Board), a new,independent regulatory body, to oversee the auditing of issuers (public companies which are subjectto the federal securities laws). The Board is subject to the oversight of the Securities and Exchange Commission, andsubject to this oversight the Board shall register public accounting firms which prepare audit reportsfor issuers subject to SEC registration, establish standards concerning the preparation of auditreports, conduct inspections of registered public accounting firms, conduct investigations anddisciplinary proceedings where justified upon registered public accounting firms, perform otherduties as determined by the SEC, enforce compliance with the Act, and set the budget and managethe operations of the Board and its staff. Section 302 directs the Commission to issue a rule requiring for each company filing periodicreports under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that the principal executive officer and theprincipal financial officer certify in each annual or quarterly report that the signing officer hasreviewed the report and that, based on the officer's knowledge, the report does not contain untruestatements and does not omit statements resulting in a misleading report and that the financialstatements fairly represent the financial condition of the company. TheSEC may also accept gifts and bequests for this fund. Â§ 1514A, which creates a civil action to protect employeesof publicly traded companies against discrimination in the terms and conditions of employment inretaliation for whistleblowing in securities fraud cases. Â§Â§ 78m(a) or 78o(d) and the compliance of those reportswith statutory requirements in 18 U.S.C. Â§ 1350. Section 1105 amends 15 U.S.C. Under Section 1106 of the Act, the criminal penalties available under 15 U.S.C.
On July 30, 2002, President Bush signed into law the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, P.L.107-204 . This law has been described by some as the most important and far-reaching securitieslegislation since passage of the Securities Act of 1933, 15 U.S.C. Â§Â§ 77a et seq ., and the SecuritiesExchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. Â§Â§ 78a et seq ., both of which were passed in the wake of the stockmarket crash of 1929.
The Act establishes a new Public Company Accounting Oversight Board which is to besupervised by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Act restricts accounting firms fromperforming a number of other services for the companies which they audit. The Act also requiresnew disclosures for public companies and the officers and directors of those companies. Among theother issues affected by the new legislation are securities fraud, criminal and civil penalties forviolating the securities laws and other laws, blackouts for insider trades of pension fund shares, andprotections for corporate whistleblowers.
This report will not be updated.