Several federal regulations have been enacted which affect corporate records compliance. The following is a list of the most common regulations, with links to more information about each.

• Sarbanes-Oxley Act
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
• The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA)
• Gramm-Leech-Bliley Act (GLB)
• Patriot Act

Sarbanes-Oxley Act

In 2002 the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was signed by President Bush. The Act - which applies in general to publicly held companies and their audit firms - dramatically affects the accounting profession and impacts not just the largest accounting firms but any CPA actively working as an auditor of, or for, a publicly traded company. For a detailed summary, please click on the link below:
http://www.aicpa.org/info/Sarbanes-Oxley2002.asp

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Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

The privacy provisions of the federal law, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), apply to health information created or maintained by health care providers who engage in certain electronic transactions, health plans, and health care clearinghouses. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued the regulation,"Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information," applicable to entities covered by HIPAA.
http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/

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The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA)

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act of 2003, Pub. L. 108-159, 111 Stat. 1952., (FACTA) added new sections to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq., (FCRA) intended primarily to help consumers fight the growing crime of identity theft. Accuracy, privacy, limits on information sharing, and new consumer rights to disclosure are included in FACTA.
http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs6a-facta.htm

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Gramm-Leech-Bliley Act (GLB)

The Financial Modernization Act of 1999, also known as the "Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act" or GLB Act, includes provisions to protect consumers’ personal financial information held by financial institutions. There are three principal parts to the privacy requirements: the Financial Privacy Rule, Safeguards Rule and pretexting provisions.
http://www.ftc.gov/privacy/privacyinitiatives/glbact.html

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Patriot Act

The USA Patriot Act is federal legislation in the United States. Passed after the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks, the Act expands the authority of US law enforcement for the stated purpose of fighting terrorist acts in the United States and abroad. This expanded legal authority is also used to detect and prosecute other alleged potential crimes.
http://www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/usapatriot

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