To All Depository Institutions and Others Concerned in the Second Federal Reserve District:
The recently enacted Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 includes provisions addressing audits, financial reporting and disclosure, conflicts of interest, and corporate governance at public companies. The Act also establishes new supervisory mechanisms, including the new Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, for accountants and accounting firms that conduct external audits of public companies.
The Federal Reserve Board provides guidance on the most important provisions of the Act that examiners should be aware of when conducting examinations and inspections of banking organizations that are subject to the Act and supervised by the Federal Reserve. It also provides a general overview of the Act for affected domestic and foreign banking organizations. This guidance is contained in a supervisory letter (SR 02-20), dated October 29, 2002.
Questions on this matter may be directed, at this Bank, to John E. Tschirhart, Supervising Examiner, Operational Risk Department.