n. (abbr. SOA or SOX)a United States law passed in 2002 (Public Law 107–204) intended to protect investors in public companies by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures and requiring reporting and internal controls, including records management controlsCox 2005, 10The recent corporate scandals, leading to new efforts to regulate corporate accounting practices as witnessed in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, very much concerned with how corporations administer their records, are but an example of their place in our culture.Behrnd-Klodt 2008, 190Together with implementing rules adopted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), SOA represents a significant change in American corporate governance and financial disclosure laws, and in public accounting practices. Its potentially far-reaching effects on business documentation may determine the volume, quality, and even the future availability of corporate records for collection by corporate archives and use by future researchers.Mariz et al. 2011, 120Documentation and accountability are critical needs for protecting the public’s rights and ensuring that political, economic, and academic leaders are accountable to their constituencies. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, for example, specifies recordkeeping essentials to lessen the chances for more scandals such as Enron.Scanlan 2011, 446In recent years, businesses have become very concerned about legal requirements pertaining to records, particularly in light of the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the 2006 revisions to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Such concerns drive many corporations toward effective records management.Jaillant 2022, 535Email retention policies are necessary to comply with legislative requirements. In the United States, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 thus outlined requirements for information technology departments regarding electronic records.
