This paper examines the American Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), the orders of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in pursuance of the SOX and the studies of the General Accounting Office and the SEC. In particular, the consequences of the orders of the PCAOB to register, be inspected or investigated for the Belgian accounting firms are highlighted. The study further focuses on the independence of auditors, audit committees, certification of financial statements, disclosure of financial information, whistle blowing practices and the requirement of attorneys to blow the whistle, and conflicts of interests of financial analists. For most topics the paper refers to the requirements of the Belgian legislation and the conflicts of laws. Finally, the paper provides an overview of the results of the studies ordered by the SOX.