¹Accounting Department, S.U.N.Y. College at Old Westbury, Academic Village D320, 223 Store Hill Rd, Old Westbury, NY 11568, USA. Tel: +1 516 650 6028; Fax: +1 516 621 1233; E-mail: covillet@oldwestbury.edu

²CPA, MBA and doctoral candidate, is an Instructor in the Accounting Department at the State University of New York's College at Old Westbury. He enjoyed a successful 20-year career as a controller for international derivatives trading firms. His research examines issues concerned with corporate governance and the use of derivative products.

Received 25 January 2008; Revised 25 January 2008; Published online 31 July 2008.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This paper surveys the academic accounting papers published to-date concerning the effects of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) and associated stock exchange requirement changes for publicly listed firm's boards of director's composition and structure. Professionals in for-profit organisations will see what changes appear to have delivered market value improvements, for example, from adding an audit committee financial expert with an accounting background, to avoiding staggered board elections. Nonprofit professionals will get exposed to some of the audit committee trends in the not-for-profit domain. Academic readers will learn of the many important research opportunities that remain available in the wake of this major regulatory legislation. Anyone, whether academic or professional, concerned with the overall governance of commercial or nonprofit organisations will learn things of value from this paper and will get exposed to thought-provoking ideas of potential value in the future. This paper was deeply researched, from over 40 books and articles prior to SOX, to provide relevant historical background as to how the many new, board of director structure and composition change requirements became part of the US Congress's, the SEC's and the stock exchanges' answers for the numerous financial reporting scandals that plagued the start of the millennium.