Glossary
SOX
The US Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, including its whistleblower-protection provisions. Section 301 requires audit committees of public companies to establish procedures for receiving anonymous complaints on accounting or auditing matters. Section 806 protects whistleblowers from retaliation. EU subsidiaries of SOX-covered US issuers must operate a SOX-compliant channel alongside EU Directive 2019/1937 compliance.
Full definition
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) is the US federal law passed after the Enron and WorldCom scandals. Section 301 requires audit committees of public companies to establish procedures for receiving anonymous complaints about accounting, internal controls, or auditing matters, effectively an internal whistleblowing channel. Section 806 protects whistleblowers from retaliation, with the Department of Labor's OSHA handling complaints. EU subsidiaries of SOX-covered US issuers must operate a SOX-compliant channel in addition to EU Directive 2019/1937 compliance. Confidly meets both regimes from a single channel.
Related terms
- MAR (Market Abuse Regulation) EU Regulation 596/2014 on market abuse, including a whistleblowing-channel requirement for financial firms. Article 32 requires national competent authorities to establish reporting mechanisms, and Article 32(3) extends that requirement to employers in the financial sector. MAR predates EU Directive 2019/1937 and remains the operative regime for the financial sector, typically alongside the broader directive.
- National Transposition The national law that each EU member state enacts to implement EU Directive 2019/1937 domestically. A directive is not directly applicable: each state must pass its own law. States may exceed the minimum requirements (Spain set a €1m fine ceiling) but may not fall below them. All 27 member states had transposed Directive 2019/1937 by 2026.