Final answer:
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) is the U.S. regulation that mandates internal controls and reporting procedures for publicly held companies to prevent corporate fraud.
Step-by-step explanation:
The act that requires publicly held companies to establish internal controls and procedures for financial reporting to reduce the possibility of corporate fraud is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). Enacted in 2002, in the wake of major accounting scandals involving corporations like Enron, Tyco International, and WorldCom, the government designed Sarbanes-Oxley to protect investors by enhancing the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures in financial statements. This was a measure to restore public confidence in the financial information provided by public companies and mitigate the risk of corporate malfeasance.