Corporate sustainability with security to investors: Analyses of Business Intelligence governance following the requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley law

The companies aim to develop sustainability on a daily basis, therefore, every day, new strategic plans are developed. Their success attracts investors because it corroborates with the returns expected in their investment. In this process, the security of business is seen as a stable foundation for investments. In the 90s, the issue of security did not have its weight properly assessed during the evaluation of corporate performance, a fact that caused some North-American Companies that traded shares in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ), to manipulate its financial results, generating a false image of stability. These factors generated negative impacts on investor´s confidence in the market. Therefore, the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) law was created as a regulatory body, ensuring the handling of financial information for companies. The SOX changed many processes in the area of Information Technology (TI), creating controls and records of financial information involving the entire governance of Business Intelligence. This study examines the governance of BI and how to meet the requirements of the SOX law. It concludes that compliance to the law generates changes in processes, creating records for control and mapping of activities, making them traceable to the direct involvement of managers involved in these activities.