SOX News

Research and Markets: Leveraging SOX to Optimize Shareholder Value

(July 25, 2008)-- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Leveraging SOX to Optimize Shareholder Value" report to their offering. Since the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was signed into law, "SOX" compliance for effective internal controls is both unavoidable and necessary. In addition to SOX requirements, U.S. corporations are obliged to adhere to all other relevant laws and regulations within their operating environments. Corporate leaders must comply--or else. Such a policy might sound unforgiving, but the primary objectives of compliance regulations are to serve and protect stakeholders--employees, investors, customers, suppliers, and the environment.

We wanted to know:
- How organizations overcome "just comply" inertia and create more efficient business processes
- How best-practice organizations of all sizes leverage the new SEC/PCAOB guidance on SOX and their own lessons learned to drive overall enterprise business performance and protect and grow shareholder investments
- How organizations integrate various compliance requirements to strengthen governance structure, operate with an appropriate risk-based framework, and measure progress
- How innovative organizations select, implement, and/or upgrade IT tools to support compliance and internal controls across the enterprise

The study focused on:
1. Integrating governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) with finance as a business partner
2. Just complying
3. Using IT that works
4. Leveraging common controls
The organizations selected for deep, detailed study through structured data collection and presentations (aka "partners") demonstrate innovative performance in one or more of the study focus areas. The goal of the project was to examine organizations that excel in one or more aspects of the scope and identify the best practices from all the organizations studied. To achieve this goal, excellence and a history of success in the scope areas above were used by our study team to select potential best-practice partners for study.

Key Topics Covered:
-Sponsor and Partner Organizations
-Executive Summary
Study Findings
Chapter 1 Starting the Journey
Chapter 2 Continuous Improvement and Learning
Chapter 3 Using IT to Advance SOX Compliance
Chapter 4 Lessons Learned
Partner Organization Case Studies
Companies Mentioned:
- Intel Corporation
- Marathon Oil Corporation
- Microsoft Corporation
- WellPoint Inc.

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/3a93fd/leveraging_sox_to

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