Banking Practice Exam

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act is significant in the realm of corporate governance and financial regulation as it established the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). This board was created in response to major corporate scandals in the early 2000s, such as those involving Enron and WorldCom, which revealed severe deficiencies in corporate governance and financial reporting.

The PCAOB's primary role is to oversee the audits of public companies to protect the interests of investors by promoting informative, accurate, and independent audit reports. By introducing stricter regulations and standards for auditing firms, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act sought to increase the credibility of financial statements and restore public confidence in the integrity of the capital markets. This was a crucial step toward enhancing transparency and accountability in the financial reporting landscape.

The other options listed, while significant in their own right, do not pertain specifically to the establishment of the PCAOB or its regulatory role. Instead, they address different aspects of banking and financial institution regulations, without direct linkage to public accounting oversight.