Sarbanes-oxley act of 2002

21 Sec. 
105 
SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002 
investigation under this section, shall be confidential and 
privileged as an evidentiary matter (and shall not be sub-
ject to civil discovery or other legal process) in any pro-
ceeding in any Federal or State court or administrative 
agency, and shall be exempt from disclosure, in the hands 
of an agency or establishment of the Federal Government, 
under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552a), or 
otherwise, unless and until presented in connection with a 
public proceeding or released in accordance with sub-
section (c). 
(B) A
VAILABILITY TO GOVERNMENT AGENCIES
.—Without 
the loss of its status as confidential and privileged in the 
hands of the Board, all information referred to in subpara-
graph (A) may— 
(i) be made available to the Commission; and 
(ii) in the discretion of the Board, when deter-
mined by the Board to be necessary to accomplish the 
purposes of this Act or to protect investors, be made 
available to— 
(I) the Attorney General of the United States; 
(II) the appropriate Federal functional regu-
lator (as defined in section 509 of the Gramm- 
Leach-Bliley Act (15 U.S.C. 6809)), other than the 
Commission, and the Director of the Federal 
Housing Finance Agency, with respect to an audit 
report for an institution subject to the jurisdiction 
of such regulator; 
(III) State attorneys general in connection 
with any criminal investigation; 
(IV) any appropriate State regulatory author-
ity; and 
(V) a self-regulatory organization, with re-
spect to an audit report for a broker or dealer that 
is under the jurisdiction of such self-regulatory or-
ganization, 
each of which shall maintain such information as confiden-
tial and privileged. 
(C) A
VAILABILITY
TO
FOREIGN
OVERSIGHT
AUTHORI
-
TIES
.—Without the loss of its status as confidential and 
privileged in the hands of the Board, all information re-
ferred to in subparagraph (A) that relates to a public ac-
counting firm that a foreign government has empowered a 
foreign auditor oversight authority to inspect or otherwise 
enforce laws with respect to, may, at the discretion of the 
Board, be made available to the foreign auditor oversight 
authority, if— 
(i) the Board finds that it is necessary to accom-
plish the purposes of this Act or to protect investors; 
(ii) the foreign auditor oversight authority pro-
vides— 
(I) such assurances of confidentiality as the 
Board may request; 
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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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