First use of "Sarb-Ox"

[Baker, John]

        The formal name is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-204, enacted July 30, 2002 - I work with it a lot).  SOx or SOX is probably the more frequent shortened form and was used almost immediately after the statute's passage.  From the National Post on 8/12/02:

        >>The source said the bank has already begun to view the SEC as its lead regulator, simply because of the stiff new listing requirements.

  "If [the OSC][[i.e., the Ontario Securities Commission.  JMB]] wants to maintain its autonomy it needs to not only catch up but actually take the lead. Basically, the rug was pulled out from underneath them last week," he said, referring to the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation, or SOX.<<

        For SarbOx, here's a Reuters story in the Star-Ledger (Newark, N.J.) on 2/28/03:  "Gone for the moment are questions about "material adverse change" clauses, replaced by detailed discussions about requirements under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or "SarbOx," as it is known in legal circles."  The headline is "Top M&A minds now doling out 'SarbOx' advice."

        For hyphenated Sarb-Ox, the American Banker has this headline from 5/16/03:  "Conflicting Guidance for Small Banks on Sarb-Ox."  The article's text refers only to Sarbanes-Oxley, not the shortened form.

        Most people just call it Sarbanes-Oxley, rather than Sarb-Ox or SOX.  The statute got its name in the conference committee, when Representative Oxley (the chair of the House Financial Services Committee) proposed that the statute be named the Sarbanes Act, after Senator Paul Sarbanes (his counterpart, the chair of the Senate Banking Committee).  It was widely acknowledged that Senator Sarbanes was the guiding light behind the new law, which had only minimal input from the House of Representatives.  Senator Sarbanes, of course, graciously said that Rep. Oxley's name should also be in the title.  I have to think that this was the outcome Oxley planned.

John Baker