Sarbanes-Oxley & Sick Industrial Companies Act | Gndec Helper

Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act 

• The U.S. Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 on July 30 of that year to help protect investors from fraudulent financial reporting by corporations.
•  Also known as the SOX Act of 2002 and the Corporate Responsibility Act of 2002, it mandated strict reforms to existing securities regulations and imposed tough new penalties on lawbreakers.
• The act took its name from its two sponsors—Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes (D-Md.) and Rep. Michael G. Oxley (R-Ohio).

• KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • The Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act of 2002 came in response to highly publicized corporate financial scandals earlier that decade.
  • The act created strict new rules for accountants, auditors, and corporate officers and imposed more stringent recordkeeping requirements.
  • The act also added new criminal penalties for violating securities laws.
• The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is a complex and lengthy piece of legislation. Three of its key provisions are commonly referred to by their section numbers: Section 302, Section 404, and Section 802.

1. Section 302 of the SOX Act of 2002 mandates that senior corporate officers personally certify in writing that the company's financial statements "comply with SEC disclosure requirements and fairly present in all material aspects the operations and financial condition of the issuer." Officers who sign off on financial statements that they know to be inaccurate are subject to criminal penalties, including prison terms.
2. Section 404 of the SOX Act of 2002 requires that management and auditors establish internal controls and reporting methods to ensure the adequacy of those controls. Some critics of the law have complained that the requirements in Section 404 can have a negative impact on publicly traded companies because it's often expensive to establish and maintain the necessary internal controls.
3. Section 802 of the SOX Act of 2002 contains the three rules that affect record keeping. The first deals with destruction and falsification of records. The second strictly defines the retention period for storing records. The third rule outlines the specific business records that companies need to store, which includes electronic communications.

Sick Industrial Companies Act (SICA) | Indian Bankruptcy Law

• The Sick Industrial Companies Act (SICA) was a key piece of legislation dealing with the issue of rampant industrial sickness in India. 
• SICA was enacted in India to detect sick or potentially sick companies owning industrial undertakings, and their revival, if possible, or their closure, if not. 
• This measure was taken to release investment locked up in sick companies for productive use elsewhere.

SICA Legislation and Provisions

• An important SICA provision was establishing two quasi-judicial bodies – the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR), and the Appellate Authority for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (AAIFR). 
• BIFR was set up as an apex board to spearhead handling the industrial sickness issue, including reviving and rehabilitating potentially sick units and liquidating non-viable companies.
•  AAIFR was set up to hear appeals against BIFR orders.