Corporate governance reform: impact on accounting and auditing

The paper aims to describe the reach of the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act that was passed by Congress in 2002 to overcome corporate abuse of federal securities law.

Analysis focused on the impact of the Act on corporate governance and the resulting effects on accounting and auditing functions.

The Act is ab initio to correct corporate officers’ abuses. The research provides information of the range of consequences of the Act.

The research is novel in reporting on the effects of the Act. It provides duties to parties in the corporation, directors and executive officers (specifically, CEOs and CFOs) and attorneys.