Final answer:
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is the law that aimed to combat corporate and accounting fraud, instigated by scandals from companies like Enron and WorldCom, seeking to protect investors by enhancing financial disclosures.
Step-by-step explanation:
The law that adopted tough provisions to deter and punish corporate and accounting fraud and corruption is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. This act came into existence following a series of major accounting scandals involving corporations such as Enron, Tyco International, and WorldCom. The government designed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to increase confidence in financial information provided by public corporations and to protect investors from potential accounting fraud, thereby addressing issues of corporate and financial malpractice at a structural level. It was a response to the loss of investor confidence and aims to ensure more accurate and reliable corporate disclosures.