The
Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 , also known as the "Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act" (in the
Senate) and "Corporate and Auditing Accountability and Responsibility Act" (in the
House) and more commonly called
Sarbanes–Oxley,
Sarbox or
SOX, is a
United States federal law that set new or expanded requirements for all U.S.
public company boards, management and public accounting firms. There are also a number of provisions of the Act that also apply to privately held companies, for example the willful destruction of evidence to impede a Federal investigation.