Background George W. Bush called SOX "the most far-reaching reform of American business practices since the days of Franklin Delano Roosevelt." It's been a decade since the Sarbanes-Oxley Act took effect. Clearly, the SOX Act, which was intended to increase confidence in the American financial market, really had a profound influence on public companies and accounting firms. However, after the Enron scandal that sparked the SOX issue, lawsuits against public companies for fraud continued. As such, the effectiveness of the 11-year-old law has been continually questioned by professionals and the public. Furthermore, controversy over the costs and benefits of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has never ceased.IntroductionThe Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which contains 11 sections, was originally created by Senator Paul Sarbanes and Representative Michael Oxley in response to several exposed accounting scandals, including WorldCom and Enron being the most prominent examples. Following the successive revelations of these accounting scandals, investor confidence in the capital markets collapsed overnight, as did companies that engaged in massive fraud. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was passed to restore the reputation of the markets. With its stated goal of "protecting investors by improving the accuracy and reliability of company reporting," SOX took effect in 2004. However, compliance deadlines have been extended several times due to the significant costs borne by businesses. SOX compliance. In addition to the dollar amount to be spent, there is another real cost that cannot be ignored. As General Motors Corp. CEO Peter Bible said, "having... middle of paper... and the benefits of Sarbanes-Oxley." Retrieved from Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/hbsworkingknowledge/2014/03/10/the-costs-and-benefits-of-sarbanes-oxley/Hunter, B. (2007, March 7). PUNISHING THE INNOCENT: THE SARBANES-OXLEY LAW. Retrieved from FEE: http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/punishing-the-innocent-the-sarbanes-oxley-act#axzz2t89PTgDuJagan Krishnan, DV (May 2008). Costs to comply with SOX. Auditing: a journal of practice and theory, pp. 169-186.Miller. (February 20, 2006). The cost of Sarbanes-Oxley is pushing businesses into the black. Philadelphia Business Journal.RITTER, H.-CC (June 2000). The seven percent solution. The Journal of Finance, pp. 1106-1131.SEC. (December 16, 2008). SEC investigation into the costs and benefits of rules implementing Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Retrieved from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission: http://www.sec.gov