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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 1520. Destruction of corporate audit records
(a)(1) Any accountant who conducts an audit of an issuer of
securities to which section 10A(a) of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78j-1(a)) applies, shall maintain all audit or
review workpapers for a period of 5 years from the end of the
fiscal period in which the audit or review was concluded.
(2) The Securities and Exchange Commission shall promulgate,
within 180 days, after adequate notice and an opportunity for
comment, such rules and regulations, as are reasonably necessary,
relating to the retention of relevant records such as workpapers,
documents that form the basis of an audit or review, memoranda,
correspondence, communications, other documents, and records
(including electronic records) which are created, sent, or received
in connection with an audit or review and contain conclusions,
opinions, analyses, or financial data relating to such an audit or
review, which is conducted by any accountant who conducts an audit
of an issuer of securities to which section 10A(a) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78j-1(a)) applies. The
Commission may, from time to time, amend or supplement the rules
and regulations that it is required to promulgate under this
section, after adequate notice and an opportunity for comment, in
order to ensure that such rules and regulations adequately comport
with the purposes of this section.
(b) Whoever knowingly and willfully violates subsection (a)(1),
or any rule or regulation promulgated by the Securities and
Exchange Commission under subsection (a)(2), shall be fined under
this title, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to diminish or
relieve any person of any other duty or obligation imposed by
Federal or State law or regulation to maintain, or refrain from
destroying, any document.
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