and, most internal auditors are still reporting to the CEO or chief financial officers -- the very people who were responsible for most of the past enormous scandals. Therefore, the affectivity of internal audits in correcting the original problems that caused the Enron scandal, for instance, is minimal at best right now. While SOX requires management to test internal controls over financial aspects of the corporation, this reporting structure poses obstacles. Risk Management

While risk management, as part of corporate governance, includes identifying and tracking all risk areas and developing plans to deal with those risks, including fraud, it is clear that only with frequent re-assessment can risk management become an effective tool to control illegal and unethical practices. Again, along with other effective corporate governance activities and responsible company management, risk management has the potential to avoid another Enron.

Conclusion

HealthSouth Corp., Chiquita Brands, AIG, Bernard Madoff -- all are financial scandals since 2002, when SOX...

If corporate top level management is inclined to cheat and commit fraud, nothing, evidently, will stop them. We can only hope that the measures now in process will ease the consequences to investors and punish the offenders.
Bibliography

Fusaro, P., & Miller, R. (2002). What went wrong at Enron: everyone's guide to the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons.

OSU . (n.d.). Brief summary of Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Retrieved September 27, 2009, from Ohio State University (OSU): http://ocdc.osu.edu/pdf/sarbanes.pdf

Thapa, S., & Brown, C. (2007, January). Corporate scandals, the Sarbanes-Oxley act of 2002 and equity prices. Retrieved September 28, 2009, from findarticles.com (from Academy of Accounting and Financial Studies Journal): http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb6182/is_1_11/ai_n28565873/

Wallace, D. (2007, October 8). What has SOX done for us lately? Retrieved September 28, 2009, from s-ox.com: http://www.s-ox.com/dsp_getFeaturesDetails.cfm?CID=2002