the Effectiveness of Corporate Audit Committees (BRC) in 1999 and culminating with the Sarbanes-
Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX), one common element of these calls has been to increase audit committee
independence. SOX Section 301 requires all listed companies to maintain an audit committee in which
every member is independent. Additionally, as required by SOX, the Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC) issued Rule 33-8220 requiring that firms be de-listed if they fail to comply with Section 301
of SOX (SEC, 2003a).