ABSTRACT
Notwithstanding the close scrutiny of regulatory agencies, the dot-com boom of the late 1990s and the rise of energy and communication companies led to major scandals that created the need for significant reform of the capital markets. The poster companies for corporate malfeasance, such as Enron, WorldCom, Adelphia, and other scandals led to the passage of the most important securities legislation since the early 1930s securities legislation, namely the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002, much better known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX).
