IntroductionIf corporate America learned anything in 2001, it was that looks can be deceiving, and so can financial statements. By early 2001, Enron was considered one of the most competitive energy companies in its industry. In December 2001 Enron collapsed; declaring bankruptcy and ultimately losing its investors over sixty-three billion dollars, not to mention losing thousands of employee pensions and/or 401Ks. This gigantic Enron fallout was the result of a series of fraudulent transactions resulting from falsification of financial documentation. Unfortunately for the US public and investors, Enron was not acting alone; Many companies were found to be taking part in similar fraudulent activities. The result of blatant corporate fraud in America has been devastating to the economy. Specifically, the Enron and similar corporate scandals have left American investors in a crisis of loss of confidence; as well as devastating monetary losses for stakeholders across the nation. The U.S. government knew that a lack of investor confidence could hinder or slow the U.S. economy, and for this reason it took steps to act quickly. Just seven months after the largest corporate scandal in American history, President Bush signed into law the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (2002), also known as The Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002. The swift passage and determined by this law are largely related to the unethical business practices of corporate executives, such as falsification of financial transactions and/or documents. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act created several reforms in the business world, such as tough penalties for wrongdoing and new standards of accountability in corporate auditing and financial reporting. T... half of the paper... for example, before Sarbanes-Oxley, a pathetic 1% of analysts recommended investors sell stocks. Just 2 years after SOX, the number was over 20%! (Forbes). In just 2 years, the asset sell rating increased by over 2,000%; this represents a collective impact of both business leaders and auditors/regulators towards a more ethical and responsible business environment. Before the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley in 2002, many executives and analysts had no incentive to report a sell rating and simply continued to wallow in greed. In just two years, the harsh new Sarbanes-Oxley sanctions have evidently already leveled the playing field. This statistic is just one of the many impacts that Sarbanes-Oxley has left on the business world. I would like to briefly individually discuss the 11 Sarbanes-Oxley compliance requirements and their impact. Title 1