The Sarbanes‐Oxley Act: Records management implications

The purpose of this article is to examine the potential of The Sarbanes‐Oxley Act on financial accounting systems in publicly‐held companies.

This article examines the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act 2002, commonly referred to as The Sarbanes‐Oxley Act, enacted by the US Congress in the wake of a series of business scandals in the USA. The focus is on the records management implications of the act.

The Sarbanes‐Oxley clearly has the potential to elevate the records management function to a new and higher level than it has ever enjoyed in the life of US business corporations. Future developments must be watched to see whether this proves to be the case.

This article will be helpful to those with more than just a passing interest in the significant happenings affecting records management in the USA.