The survey offers a look at the views of key players in the fight against corporate fraud -- corporate board members who oversee the preparation and auditing of public company financial statements. The findings indicate that even in the face of market turbulence, audit committee members have high confidence in the quality of audited financial statements and consider the Sarbanes-Oxley Act a positive influence.

About 53 percent of the audit committee members agreed that overall audit quality is "very good," while 25 percent described it as "excellent." About 87 percent said the risk of inaccuracies in financial statements due to fraud is "not very high," and 60 percent agreed that the risk declined after the passage of SOX. Audit committee members indicate they believe the risk of fraud and materially inaccurate statements is low due to tightened internal controls and increased external auditor scrutiny.

Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) agreed that investors should have more confidence in the markets as a result of the 2002 law.

"The findings confirm that public company audit quality is high and has only gotten better in recent years, according to the people closest to the process," said CAQ Executive Director Cindy Fornelli.

Participants in the audit committee survey represented a broad range of publicly traded companies. All served on at least one audit committee in 2007. Six in 10 served on two or more audit committees, and half were committee chairs. About 56 percent began their service as audit committee members prior to enactment of SOX.

Overall, 58 percent of the audit committee members said changes resulting from SOX had a positive impact. They offered several reasons for the improvement, among them:

• Increased audit committee oversight -- 92 percent
• Requirements regarding internal controls -- 87 percent
• Better communication within audit committees -- 85 percent
• CEO/CFO sign-off on financial statements -- 81 percent
• Increased emphasis on quality by auditors -- 77 percent
• More rigorous audits -- 76 percent
• Audit committee oversight of auditors -- 76 percent

Nearly all of the audit committee members (99 percent) said they devote more time to their committee work as a result of SOX. About 90 percent said they work more closely with external auditors.

The audit committee members expressed mixed views on the efficacy of audited financial statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although most described financial statements as "easily accessible" (81 percent) and "relevant to investors" (87 percent), 78 percent said they are too complicated.