Sarbanes-oxley act of 2002

SEC. 704. STUDY OF ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS. 
(a) S
TUDY
R
EQUIRED
.—The Commission shall review and ana-
lyze all enforcement actions by the Commission involving violations 
of reporting requirements imposed under the securities laws, and 
restatements of financial statements, over the 5-year period pre-
ceding the date of enactment of this Act, to identify areas of report-
ing that are most susceptible to fraud, inappropriate manipulation, 
or inappropriate earnings management, such as revenue recogni-
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As Amended Through P.L. 116-222, Enacted December 18, 2020

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47 Sec. 
804 
SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002 
tion and the accounting treatment of off-balance sheet special pur-
pose entities. 
(b) R
EPORT
R
EQUIRED
.—The Commission shall report its find-
ings to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
Affairs of the Senate, not later than 180 days after the date of en-
actment of this Act, and shall use such findings to revise its rules 
and regulations, as necessary. The report shall include a discussion 
of regulatory or legislative steps that are recommended or that may 
be necessary to address concerns identified in the study. 
SEC. 705. STUDY OF INVESTMENT BANKS. 
(a) GAO S
TUDY
.—The Comptroller General of the United 
States shall conduct a study on whether investment banks and fi-
nancial advisers assisted public companies in manipulating their 
earnings and obfuscating their true financial condition. The study 
should address the rule of investment banks and financial advis-
ers— 
(1) in the collapse of the Enron Corporation, including with 
respect to the design and implementation of derivatives trans-
actions, transactions involving special purpose vehicles, and 
other financial arrangements that may have had the effect of 
altering the company’s reported financial statements in ways 
that obscured the true financial picture of the company; 
(2) in the failure of Global Crossing, including with respect 
to transactions involving swaps of fiberoptic cable capacity, in 
the designing transactions that may have had the effect of al-
tering the company’s reported financial statements in ways 
that obscured the true financial picture of the company; and 
(3) generally, in creating and marketing transactions 
which may have been designed solely to enable companies to 
manipulate revenue streams, obtain loans, or move liabilities 
off balance sheets without altering the economic and business 
risks faced by the companies or any other mechanism to ob-
scure a company’s financial picture. 
(b) R
EPORT
.—The Comptroller General shall report to Congress 
not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act on 
the results of the study required by this section. The report shall 
include a discussion of regulatory or legislative steps that are rec-
ommended or that may be necessary to address concerns identified 
in the study.