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 Marylands history. He began his political career in 1966 and was soon elected to the Maryland House of Delegates. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1970 and was reelected in 1972 and 1974. As a member of the house, he served on the Judiciary Committee, the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee and the Select Committee on House Reorganization.

Senator Paul Sarbanes was elected to the United States Senate in 1976. He has previously served on the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.

Michael Garver Oxley serves as a United States House of Representatives from the Fourth Congressional District of Ohio. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Miami University in 1966 and a law degree from Ohio State University in 1969. Mr. Oxley served at the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1969 to 1972 and was an active member of the Ohio Republican Party. He also served in the Ohio House of Representatives from 1972 to 1981. In a special election, to fill the vacancy left by the death of U.S. Rep. Tennyson Guyer, he was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives. Mr. Oxley represented Ohio as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1976 and 1984. He is the chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services and co-sponsor to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

The act named after Senator Paul Sarbanes and Mr. Oxley is considered a milestone in the federal history of the United States, as it sought to bring larger accountability in the affairs of corporations in the country.