The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is also known as the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002. It is commonly known as SOX or SarbOx. The U.S. House of Representatives approved the Act by a vote of 423-3 and the Senate approved it by a vote of 99-0.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was passed due to a number of corporate and accounting scandals involving prominent companies in the United States. The Act is named after its sponsors namely Senator Paul Sarbanes, a Democrat from Maryland and Representative Michael G. Oxley, a Republican from Ohio.

Senator Paul Sarbanes served in the senate since 1997 and is the longest serving Senator in Maryland