Right sentiment; here's an editing tweak that lets you make the point more precisely: SOX compliance is arduous but it only exists (and is as strict as it is)

Right sentiment; here's an editing tweak that lets you make the point more precisely: SOX compliance is arduous but it only exists (and is as strict as it is) because some company built a $60 billion market cap in 2000 with financial-statement mischief that concealed a bankruptcy in the making.