Acts similar to Sarbanes-Oxley

The Sarbanes-Oxley act of 2002 was enacted to avoid accounting debacles like Enron and WorldCom in future (Murray, 2019). The act consisted of several mandatory strict codes of conducts encompassing financial practices, accounting controls, corporate governance as well as criminal penalties against violators (Murray, 2019). The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection act of 2010 was enacted after the 2008 financial crisis and its focus is to enact significant financial reforms in areas of regulatory regimes, swaps trading, derivatives valuation and corporate performance pay to reduce the risk in certain areas of economy (Investopedia, 2015). 2008 financial crisis is believed to be caused in part by issues with swaps trading in credit default swaps and mortgage-backed securities, which were traded over the counter instead of centralized exchanges as stocks and commodities are. Dodd- Frank act setup centralized exchanges for swaps trading to reduce default concerns and enhances transparency to public through disclosures (Investopedia, 2015).

Jumpstart our business startups act of 2012 was aimed to help business raise funds in public capital markets by minimizing regulatory requirements (US SEC, 2019). The act allows small businesses to raise capitals with fewer restrictions and allow them to go public with less than $1 billion in annual gross revenue (Kenton, 2019). The act also provide legitimacy to the practice of crowd-funding through platforms like Kickstarter (Kenton, 2019).

Securities act of 1933 has two main objectives, investors to receive financial and other significant information concerning securities offered for public sale and prohibit deceit, misrepresentations and fraud in the sale of securities (US SEC, 2019). Securities Exchange act of 1934 created the Securities and Exchange Commission as an authority with broad power to register, regulate, oversee brokerage firms, transfer agents, clearing agencies and self-regulatory organizations like New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ Stock Exchange etc. The SEC act of 1934 also identifies and prohibits certain types of conducts and empowers SEC with disciplinary powers over regulated entities and persons associated with them (US SEC, 2019).

In summary, all the acts are unique with their own areas of concentration. Sarbanes-Oxley act is strictly limited to public companies while the Dodd-Frank provisions applies to all. Both acts have provisions to protect whistle-blowers from ramifications. Sarbanes-Oxley encompass all public listed small and large companies with stricter code of conducts for financial practices, accounting controls, corporate governance and criminal penalties. On the other hand, the Dodd-Frank sets up centralized exchanges for swaps trading to avoid economic meltdown like 2008 at a national level.

References:

Kenton, W. (2019). Jumpstart our business startups (JOBS). Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/j/jumpstart-our-business-startups-act-jobs.asp

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (2019). The laws that govern the securities industry. Retrieved from https://www.sec.gov/answers/about-lawsshtml.html

Investopedia (2015). What is the difference between Sarbanes-Oxley act and the Dodd-Frank act? Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/051815/what-difference-between-sarbanesoxley-act-and-doddfrank-act.asp

Murray, L. (2019). Sarbanes-Oxley Code of Conduct Requirements. Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/sarbanes-oxley-code-conduct-requirements-4060.html