1. Why - in your opinion - did the SOX Legislation focus on the external auditors - it seems that the internal audit function was ignored and yet internal controls are critical to implementation of the SOX legislation? Response should be in own words with a minimum of 90 word count.

2. As a follow-on query - consider the following: assume that you were recently appointed CFO of a mid-sized company which did not have an internal audit function - how would you justify the incremental expenses of establishing an internal audit function in this company? Response should be in own words with a minimum of 90 word count.

3. It is generally held that one of the primary objectives of the SOX Legislation was to restore investor confidence in the financial reports of public entities - is there any evidence that SOX has accomplished this objective - also - it is estimated that the cost to U.S. companies for the implementation of SOX is in the billions of dollars - was the time and resources justified? Response should be in own words with a minimum of 90 word count.

4. In your opinion - based on your research - the readings for the week from this class and other classes how would you respond to the following commentary: ".....due to their familiarity with the company's personnel it is generally held that the internal auditor's reports are somewhat biased which causes the external auditors to place less reliance on the internal auditors findings." Assuming that you concur with the foregoing commentary - how would you insure that the internal auditors reports remain unbiased? Response should be in own words with a minimum of 90 word count.

5. "could the business community have accomplished the same objectives by properly enforcing the regulations which were in place and have omitted the expensive implementation of the SOX legislation?" Response should be in own words with a minimum of 90 word count.