The House approved the measure, 423-3, and the Senate soon followed with a unanimous vote, 99-0. The White House said President Bush, who had urged Congress to send him a bill by its August recess, would sign the bill "promptly."

The bill is comprised of the two versions approved separately by the House and Senate earlier this month but mostly adopts the tougher measures presented by Rep. Paul Sarbanes' Senate bill, which advocated tightening auditor independence.

The final bill sent to President Bush:

• calls for a stronger, five-member accounting oversight body with the authority to investigate and punish accounting firms, funded by publicly held companies and overseen by the SEC;
• increases the Securities and Exchange Commission budget to $776 million for fiscal-year 2003 for improving technology, providing raises and increasing staff (accountants and lawyers in particular), and provides the SEC with the authority to bar "unfit" officers from serving on corporate boards;
• lengthens the statute of limitations on securities fraud to five years;
• prevents company executives from receiving company loans unavailable to outsiders;
• establishes an independent review by federal accountants of all public accounting firms that audit more than 100 firms, replacing the peer review process;
• restricts the consulting services an auditing firm can provide its clients;
• requires that CEOs and CFOs at 17,000 publicly-traded companies certify their financial reports, and punishes knowingly falsified records with a maximum 20-year jail term or $5 million fine;
• prevents chief executive officers from selling stock during "blackout periods";
• makes securities fraud a crime subject to a 25-year jail term;
• makes it easier for whistleblowers to sue.

The American Institute of CPAs, which represents 350,000 CPAs, said in a statement that "the changes demanded by the legislation will be dramatic and challenging for the CPA profession. The AICPA will work cooperatively and closely with firms engaged in conducting public company audits in adapting to changes mandated by the new legislation."

What do you think about this bill? What impact will it have on the accounting profession? Will it deter accounting fraud? Send your comments to editor@smartpros.com