The Sarbanes-Oxley Twister: Origin, Materiality & Impact on EU

Abstract

This paper gives an international perspective all over Sarbanes-Oxley starting from the causes of this "Twister" in the U.S. securities regulation with a strapping international impact. Every natural phenomenon such as a Twister raises out three important questions: 1) Why does it come? 2) How does it come? 3) Where does it go? On this basis, the WHW approach is the key of analysis pursued in this paper and that is summarized in the words: origin, materiality & impact on the EU.

Keywords: financial frauds, audit firms, accounting debacle, investor confidence, Sarbanes- Oxley Act, foreign private issuers, European private issuers, European audit firms, EU Commission.

JEL Classification: K22, K33