Sarbanes-Oxley Functioning Bodies:

The Securities and Exchange commission, Issuer or Public Companies, Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, Audit Committee, Public Accounting firms are the main functioning bodies of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The main key functions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act are Section 404 and Section 302, which deal about the Management Assessment and Corporate responsibility of Internal Control Structure.

Securities and Exchange Commission:

  • The SEC shall have oversight and enforcement authority over the board.
  • The SEC has power to approve, reject or amend rules made by the board.
  • The SEC shall give additional responsibilities to the board by a rule or by order.
  • The board’s final sanctions against public accounting firms must be informed to SEC.
  • The SEC can modify, cancel, reduce, or require remission of any such sanction.
  • The SEC can inspect the board at any time.

Issuer or Public Companies:

The issuer or the public company has to submit the financial report and the Internal control structure of the company for the compliance of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.The issuer has to appoint the following persons for the effective filing of the financial report and Internal Control Structure.

  • Chief Executive officer, Chief Financial officer and other officers to prepare and submit the internal control structure of the company.
  • Public registered accounting firms to prepare and issue audit reports. The audit partner of the issuer has to be reviewed for every five years. Any officer or director of an issuer should not fraudulently influence, coerce, manipulate, or mislead any auditor so as to mislead the financial statements materially.
  • Audit committee to oversee the accounting and financial reporting processes of the issuer and audits of the financial statements of the issuer.

Public Company Accounting Oversight Board:

The Securities and Exchange Commission appoints a Public Company Accounting Oversight Board for the purpose of supervising, administering, and investigating the audits and auditors of public companies and to impose sanctions for violating the laws, rules and regulations of the act.

The board shall consist of 5 members. Two of the 5 members shall be certified public accountants. The board shall be a body corporate and operates as a nonprofit organization. The board shall have all the powers conferred upon a nonprofit organization.

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