Sarbanes-Oxley Act

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was enacted by Congress in response to the major corporate, accounting and document destruction scandals that rocked the stock markets recently. To restore investor confidence, the act establishes a framework for corporate accountability, including strict new standards and penalties for violations in the areas of corporate governance, disclosures, audits, financial reporting and conflicts of interest. Although originally enacted only for public companies, the act is quickly becoming the standard of care for privately owned and not-for-profit companies, including health care organizations. The IRS and the Office of Inspector General are rapidly adopting the act's principles to raise the bar regarding corporate governance and management accountability, examining the independence of boards of directors and audit committees, the effectiveness of compliance programs for reporting information to management and directors, policies and procedures for document retention and destruction, and treatment of whistleblowers in a company. This manual will review the act's requirements and penalties, give practical solutions to assist in compliance with the act and the standards it has set for management and directors, and examine the impact of the act on directors' and officers' liability insurance.