Is Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) effective?
Oversight Systems surveyed 208 Certified Fraud Examiners earlier this year, inquiring as to whether or not the controls imposed by Sarbanes-Oxley are believed to be effective. The survey found that while fraud examiners believe SOX helps with fraud identification, few believe that the culture of business leaders will be affected by it in the long run.
65% of survey participants believe that SOX has been “somewhat effective” or “very effective” in identifying incidences of financial statement fraud. However, the large majority (83%) of respondents believe that recent leanings toward integrity and fraud prevention will not have long-term staying power.
It is clear that while regulations have shined a brighter light on fraud prevention, the ability of SOX to have a lingering effect in the minds of executives is doubtful.
Survey results are available here.
