Individual and corporate security stand in the center of the Sarbanes Oxley Act summary, as they are the areas that suffered most changes. New criminal and civil penalties were announced for security violations and a new system of certification of internal audit efforts was set. With the new auditor independence provision, auditors from outside the system have been granted more access to company data. Other items comprised in the Sarbanes Oxley Act summary focus on an increased disclosure of compensation methods and systems, especially for upper management.

This new act brought a lot of unrest and insecurity with companies, who had to adapt their work methods to comply with it. However, the benefits of the Sarbanes Oxley Act to the investors and the general public are obvious, so even those company managers who faced compliance problems understood the importance of the new laws. Most companies begin by starting an external audit of their company, so as to see if it is compliant with the Sarbanes Oxley Act. After the most risky areas of the company have been identified, the company usually proceeds to install and implement software solutions. The need for increased security is taken seriously by all companies that wish to ensure maximum compliance with the act.

Here is a section of the Sarbanes Oxley Act summary which points out the most relevant prohibited activities:

"Section 201: Services Outside The Scope Of Practice Of Auditors; Prohibited Activities. It shall be "unlawful" for a registered public accounting firm to provide any non-audit service to an issuer contemporaneously with the audit, including: (1) bookkeeping or other services related to the accounting records or financial statements of the audit client; (2) financial information systems design and implementation; (3) appraisal or valuation services, fairness opinions, or contribution-in-kind reports; (4) actuarial services; (5) internal audit outsourcing services; (6) management functions or human resources; (7) broker or dealer, investment adviser, or investment banking services; (8) legal services and expert services unrelated to the audit; (9) any other service that the Board determines, by regulation, is impermissible. The Board may, on a case-by-case basis, exempt from these prohibitions any person, issuer, public accounting firm, or transaction, subject to review by the Commission."

Michael Gatt is the webmaster of several successful business related compliance websites. For more Complete and Daily Updated News and Information about the SOX Act please check out his website at Sarbanes Oxley Act Summary