Final answer:
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, passed in 2002, was designed to protect investors by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures and preventing accounting fraud.
Step-by-step explanation:
The legislation enacted to protect the interest of those who invest in publicly traded companies is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. This act was passed in 2002 in response to major accounting scandals involving prominent corporations such as Enron, Tyco International, and WorldCom. The government designed Sarbanes-Oxley to increase confidence in financial information provided by public corporations and to protect investors from accounting fraud. The act implemented rigorous reforms to improve financial disclosures from corporations and to prevent accounting fraud.