What It Is

J-SOX, or Japan's internal control over financial reporting under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA) promulgated in 2006, is a regulatory framework effective April 2008. It mandates management assessment of ICFR for listed companies, emphasizing principles-based, risk-based approaches with COSO alignment plus explicit IT response.

Key Components

• Five COSO components plus IT response and asset preservation.
• Entity-level, process-level, ITGC controls.
• Risk-based scoping, key controls identification.
• Management evaluation with external auditor attestation on report reliability.

Why Organizations Use It

• Mandatory for ~3,800 listed firms and subsidiaries to ensure financial transparency.
• Mitigates misstatement risks, builds investor trust.
• Enhances governance, reduces audit costs via efficiency.
• Strategic benefits: operational resilience, automation leverage.

Implementation Overview

• Phased: governance, scoping, design, testing, monitoring.
• Targets listed companies in Japan; multinationals with Japanese entities.
• Requires documentation, evidence, annual reporting with auditor review.

What It Is

APRA Prudential Standard CPS 234 (Information Security) is a binding regulation issued by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority for regulated financial entities. Effective from 1 July 2019, it mandates maintaining information security capabilities commensurate with threats to minimize incidents impacting confidentiality, integrity, or availability (CIA) of information assets, including those managed by third parties. It adopts a risk-based, assurance-driven approach emphasizing governance, testing, and notification.

Key Components

• Governance: Board ultimate responsibility (para 13), defined roles (para 14).
• Risk management: Asset classification by criticality/sensitivity (para 20), commensurate controls (para 21).
• Incident response: Detection mechanisms, annual plan testing (paras 23-26).
• Assurance: Systematic testing (paras 27-31), internal audit (paras 32-34).
• Reporting: 72-hour material incident notification, 10-day control weakness alerts (paras 35-36). No fixed control count; focuses on outcomes with third-party extensions.

Why Organizations Use It

Mandatory for APRA-regulated entities (ADIs, insurers, super funds). Drives cyber resilience, regulatory compliance, reduced operational risk, stakeholder protection, and supply-chain accountability. Enhances trust and avoids penalties.

Implementation Overview

Phased: gap analysis, policy framework, asset inventory, controls/testing, TPRM integration. Applies to all sizes in Australian financial sector; requires independent audits, no formal certification but APRA supervision.