The five-year anniversary of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 comes up on July 30. The act sought to restore investor confidence after financial scandals had deeply soiled the reputations of both American corporations and their executives.
Ample time has passed for Congress to assess whether Sarbanes-Oxley is working. Investor anxiety has calmed. Chief executive officers who thought they were above the law have been prosecuted. Auditors and in-house attorneys now appreciate that their professional obligations expose them to sanctions under the new federal law. But did Congress and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission go far enough to ensure greater fidelity in corporate America?
