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| Periodic reports in 302 oxley sarbanes section |
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302 oxley sarbanes section of the act contains provisions requiring companies to certify periodic reports. Section 302 certifications requires the close co-operation of Board members, IT Managers and Application Security Specialists who have defined and enforced controls within the Sarbanes Oxley software applications.This section also includeds legislation about the subsidiaries of companies.
For example, 302requires the CEO and CFO to certify that they have designed internal controls to ensure that compliance information relating to the issuer and its consolidated subsidiaries is made known to such officers by others within those entities, especiallyduring the period in which the periodic reports are being prepared.
The CEO and CFO are responsible for ensuring that all material information is made known personally to the subsidiaryCEO and CFO themselves.
This obligation extends not only to material information concerning the company, but also to material information about all the companysconsolidated subsidiaries.
Thus, the 302 section of oxley sarbanes creates a large compliance workload on the CEO and CFO to become personally aware of material information on a timely basis.
It also makes it difficult to argue in any investigation that the CEO or CFO in fact had no knowledge of material information that was available.
The whole aim of the act is to increase materially CEO and CFO personal involvement in monitoring and correcting misconduct and reporting to the compliance authorities.
False certifications under 302 will generally be pursued civilly through SEC proceedings
Also, the Department of JusticeDOJmay seek to prosecute 302 violations under criminal provisions prohibiting use of the mail, telephones or Internet to commit fraud.
302 regulations, the procedures a company must employ to ensure Sarbanes Oxley compliance are company specific.
There are a number of practices that issuers have already been implementing to improve their internal controlsdue to Sarbanes OxleyNo list of procedures will ensure blanket protection for board members including the CEO and CFO.
Section 302, Certification of Internal Controls overlap with Section 906
Section 906 overlaps Section 302 in some respects, although there is at least one significant distinction, specific criminal penalties for failure to comply. Senior executives running afoul of Section 906s provisions face a fine of up to5 million and 20 years in prison.
Quarterly certifications are required for Section 302
It should state there have been no material changes in internal controls and that any material weaknesses in internal control have been disclosed.
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