Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 116 Part 1.djvu/833

 PUBLIC LAW 107-204-JULY 30, 2002 116 STAT. 807 TITLE X—CORPORATE TAX RETURNS SEC. 1001. SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING THE SIGNING OF COR- PORATE TAX RETURNS BY CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICERS. It is the sense of the Senate that the Federal income tax return of a corporation should be signed by the chief executive officer of such corporation. TITLE XI—CORPORATE FRAUD corporate Fraud Accountability Act of 2002. ACCOUNTABILITY SEC. 1101. SHORT TITLE. 15 USC 78a note. This title may be cited as the "Corporate Fraud Accountability Act of 2002". SEC. 1102. TAMPERING WITH A RECORD OR OTHERWISE IMPEDING AN OFFICIAL PROCEEDING. Section 1512 of title 18, United States Code, is amended— (1) by redesignating subsections (c) through (i) as subsections (d) through (j), respectively; and (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the following new subsection: "(c) Whoever corruptly— "(1) alters, destroys, mutilates, or conceals a record, document, or other object, or attempts to do so, with the intent to impair the object's integrity or availability for use in an • official proceeding; or "(2) otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.". SEC. 1103. TEMPORARY FREEZE AUTHORITY FOR THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION. (a) IN GENERAL. —Section 21C(c) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78u-3(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following: "(3) TEMPORARY FREEZE. — "(A) IN GENERAL. — "(i) ISSUANCE OF TEMPORARY ORDER.— Whenever, during the course of a lawful investigation involving possible violations of the Federal securities laws by an issuer of publicly traded securities or any of its directors, officers, partners, controlling persons, agents, or employees, it shall appear to the Commission that it is likely that the issuer will make extraordinary payments (whether compensation or otherwise) to any of the foregoing persons, the Commission may petition a Federal ^strict court for a temporary order requiring the issuer to escrow, subject to court supervision, those payments in an interest-bearing account for 45 days. "(ii) STANDARD. —A temporary order shall be entered under clause (i), only after notice and opportunity for a hearing, unless the court determines that 99-194O-03 -27:QL3 Part1

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