I would like some information on the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. In
particular I am interested to know about a section pertaining to the
disclosure of threats to the balance sheet, as required by the act.
Aon, a risk management company, believes that within the text of SOX
there is a requirement to disclose physical threats such as terrorism
and political risk.

"Bryan Squibb, managing director of Aon Trade Credit, said that such
threats have gained importance following the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of
2003. 'Sarbanes-Oxley has been called the most significant accounting
legislation since the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,' said Squibb.
'One implication of this new law is that companies are responsible for
having processes in place to manage and disclose threats to their
balance sheets.'"

"International political risk and trade credit exposures, Squibb
noted, are one example of threats that are sometimes overlooked or
assessed haphazardly. Such risks include war, civil war, terrorism,
expropriation, inability to transfer currency across borders, and
trade credit defaults by foreign or domestic customers. A 2001 study
by Aon Trade Credit discovered that, in the Fortune 1000, only about
26 percent of companies had in place systematic and consistent
methodologies to assess political risks."

"Although risks such as war and economic crisis are outside the scope
of normal business dealings," said Squibb, "companies have a
responsibility to understand these risks, and the risk management
community is constantly developing new ways to deal with them."

Is there any evidence to support this view? Are Aon the only company
that has articulated this perspective? Are they simply taking
advantage of the atmosphere of fear in order to sell their information
or is this a legitimate claim by Squibb et al.? Thanks for your help