This bill requires securities issuers to use the services of auditors who participate in the Canadian Public Accountability Board’s independent oversight program. Shortly after the bill was passed, Canadian securities commissions issued three additional regulations for companies and auditors to talk about: In reality, the bill dealt broadly with a number of different government operation procedures and only a small part dealt with financial reporting. The Provincial Government of Ontario introduced the bill in a piece of legislation called “Keeping the Promise for a Strong Economy Act,” and it was approved on December 9, 2002. It increased scrutiny of corporate governance amid growing concern about auditor independence and the disclosure of internal controls over financial reporting, a Pricewaterhouse Coopers report notes. This bill came out as a result of corporate scandals that shook investor confidence. Many other countries responded by creating their own versions of SOX.įor example, on April 7, 2003, the Canadian government passed Bill 198, which essentially accomplishes the same thing as SOX – in fact, it’s frequently referred to as the Canadian SOX (C-SOX). The new approach greatly benefited shareholders and stock investors by bolstering transparency in fiscal reporting. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), passed in 2002, changed how many companies in the United States reported their financial standings.