Sarbanes Oxley 101 -- Info Guide to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

Sarbanes Oxley Sect. 302 Compliance

» Section 302: Corporate Responsibility for Financial Reports

The essence of Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act states that the CEO and CFO are directly reponsible for the accuracy, documentation and submission of all financial reports as well as the internal control structure to the SEC.

Here is the direct excerpt from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 report:

a. Regulations Required. The Commission shall, by rule, require, for each company filing periodic reports under section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, that the principal executive officer or officers and the principal financial officer or officers, or persons performing similar functions, certify in each annual or quarterly report filed or submitted under either such section of such Act that--

  1. the signing officer has reviewed the report;

  2. based on the officer's knowledge, the report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading;

  3. based on such officer's knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in the report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition and results of operations of the issuer as of, and for, the periods presented in the report;

  4. the signing officers--

    A. are responsible for establishing and maintaining internal controls;
    B. have designed such internal controls to ensure that material information relating to the issuer and its consolidated subsidiaries is made known to such officers by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which the periodic reports are being prepared;
    C. have evaluated the effectiveness of the issuer's internal controls as of a date within 90 days prior to the report; and
    D. have presented in the report their conclusions about the effectiveness of their internal controls based on their evaluation as of that date;

  5. the signing officers have disclosed to the issuer's auditors and the audit committee of the board of directors (or persons fulfilling the equivalent function)--

    A. all significant deficiencies in the design or operation of internal controls which could adversely affect the issuer's ability to record, process, summarize, and report financial data and have identified for the issuer's auditors any material weaknesses in internal controls; and
    B. any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the issuer's internal controls; and

  6. the signing officers have indicated in the report whether or not there were significant changes in internal controls or in other factors that could significantly affect internal controls subsequent to the date of their evaluation, including any corrective actions with regard to significant deficiencies and material weaknesses.

b. Foreign Reincorporations Have No Effect. Nothing in this section 302 shall be interpreted or applied in any way to allow any issuer to lessen the legal force of the statement required under this section 302, by an issuer having reincorporated or having engaged in any other transaction that resulted in the transfer of the corporate domicile or offices of the issuer from inside the United States to outside of the United States.