M&A checklists for a post‐SOX world

Section 404 of the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) requires the majority of publicly traded companies to include a report on the effectiveness of their internal controls. Most company managers have been inundated with information about this. But there has been less attention paid to how SOX affects a company's M&A evaluation techniques. The authors present useful suggestions and checklists that will help reduce M&A risks in a post‐SOX world. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.