eSilo can help publicly traded businesses and companies (accounting firms) who adhere to SOX to be fully compliant with all SOX regulations for electronic storing and archiving of records including email.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) of 2002 implements safeguards against accounting errors and fraudulent management practices at publicly traded firms. The act holds CEO's and CFO's personally responsible for misrepresentation of company performance. While SOX is financially focused, the rules are intended to enforce internal controls for the management and retention of information used to create financial statements, changing the nature of what is considered financial information. SOX not only affects financials, but also sales and order management, as well as the documents that support them.

SOX specifically states that electronic records and messages (email/IM) must be saved for at least five years to ensure those auditors and other regulators can easily obtain requested documents.

What type of Business Records and Electronic Communications Require Storage?
Sec. 802(a)(2) "The Securities and Exchange Commission shall promulgate, within 180 days, such rules and regulations, as are necessary, relating to the retention of relevant records such as work papers, documents, that form the basis of an audit or review, memoranda, correspondence, communications, other documents, and records (including electronic records) which are created, sent, or received in connection with an audit or review and contain conclusions, opinions, analyses, or financial data relating to such an audit or review."

How does the rule affect Destruction, Alteration, or Falsification of Records?
Sec. 802(a) "Whoever knowingly alters, destroys, mutilates, conceals, covers up, falsifies, or makes a false entry in any record, document, or tangible object with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States or any case filed under title 11, or in relation to or contemplation of any such matter or case, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both."

What is the Required Retention Period for Storage?
Sec. 802(a)(1) "Any accountant who conducts an audit of an issuer of securities to which section 10A(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C 78j-1(a)) applies, shall maintain all audit or review work papers for a period of 5 years from the end of the fiscal period in which the audit or review was concluded.

U.S. Government Printing Office