After the disasters in the banking and financial industries in 2008, a number of conflicts of interest were discovered in many securities firms. Specifically, in many instances, the person/agency who prepared the financial statements for the firm would also verify the accuracy of those statements. Investment bankers and securities analysts of the same firm shared information, and the analysts were paid or pressured by the securities firms to write glowing reports of companies from which the investment bankers of the firm were earning fees. In response to unethical conduct in the securities industry, in 2002 Congress enacted the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX).
How did SOX try to prevent these conflicts?