Sarbanes-Oxley

Internal Control over Financial Reporting

"Good internal control is one of the most effective deterrents to fraud, and therefore we expect our standard to help protect investors from the kinds of financial reporting scandals that the (Sarbanes-Oxley Act) seeks to prevent."

William McDonough
Chairman
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
June 24, 2004

"There is no way to measure how many reporting failures will be averted and how many investment dollars will be saved because of the increased attention to effective internal control systems. Strong controls are vital to high-quality financial reporting and essential to timely analysis. To achieve the goals of Section 404 [of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act], all participants in the financial reporting process investors, management, audit committees, auditors, lawyers, and regulators must make the development of and adherence to these systems a priority in our daily work."

Donald T. Nicolaisen
Chief Accountant
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
October 7, 2004

An Investor Resource Guide2 PDF