Sarbanes-oxley act of 2002

3 Sec. 
2 
SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002 
TITLE X—CORPORATE TAX RETURNS 
Sec. 1001. Sense of the Senate regarding the signing of corporate tax returns by 
chief executive officers. 
TITLE XI—CORPORATE FRAUD AND ACCOUNTABILITY 
Sec. 1101. Short title. 
Sec. 1102. Tampering with a record or otherwise impeding an official proceeding. 
Sec. 1103. Temporary freeze authority for the Securities and Exchange Commis-
sion. 
Sec. 1104. Amendment to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. 
Sec. 1105. Authority of the Commission to prohibit persons from serving as officers 
or directors. 
Sec. 1106. Increased criminal penalties under Securities Exchange Act of 1934. 
Sec. 1107. Retaliation against informants. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
(a) ø15 U.S.C. 7201¿ I
N
G
ENERAL
.—Except as otherwise spe-
cifically provided in this Act, in this Act, the following definitions 
shall apply: 
(1) A
PPROPRIATE
STATE
REGULATORY
AUTHORITY
.—The 
term ‘‘appropriate State regulatory authority’’ means the State 
agency or other authority responsible for the licensure or other 
regulation of the practice of accounting in the State or States 
having jurisdiction over a registered public accounting firm or 
associated person thereof, with respect to the matter in ques-
tion. 
(2) A
UDIT
.—The term ‘‘audit’’ means an examination of the 
financial statements of any issuer by an independent public ac-
counting firm in accordance with the rules of the Board or the 
Commission (or, for the period preceding the adoption of appli-
cable rules of the Board under section 103, in accordance with 
then-applicable generally accepted auditing and related stand-
ards for such purposes), for the purpose of expressing an opin-
ion on such statements. 
(3) A
UDIT
COMMITTEE
.—The term ‘‘audit committee’’ 
means— 
(A) a committee (or equivalent body) established by 
and amongst the board of directors of an issuer for the 
purpose of overseeing the accounting and financial report-
ing processes of the issuer and audits of the financial 
statements of the issuer; and 
(B) if no such committee exists with respect to an 
issuer, the entire board of directors of the issuer. 
(4) A
UDIT REPORT
.—The term ‘‘audit report’’ means a docu-
ment or other record— 
(A) prepared following an audit performed for pur-
poses of compliance by an issuer with the requirements of 
the securities laws; and 
(B) in which a public accounting firm either— 
(i) sets forth the opinion of that firm regarding a 
financial statement, report, or other document; or 
(ii) asserts that no such opinion can be expressed. 
(5) B
OARD
.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the Public Company 
Accounting Oversight Board established under section 101. 
(6) C
OMMISSION
.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Secu-
rities and Exchange Commission. 
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December 21, 2020 
G:\COMP\SEC\SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002.XML
As Amended Through P.L. 116-222, Enacted December 18, 2020

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