“Some of the nation’s most powerful CEOs are being forced to sign on the dotted line,” writes Paul Beckett in today’s Wall Street Journal.

“In a little-noticed move amid the din of corporate-accounting scandals, the Securities and Exchange Commission last week implemented an order that could have major implications — civil penalties or jail time — for errant chief executive officers and chief financial officers at the nation’s biggest companies. It also could lead to a spate of financial restatements in the next few weeks as companies scramble to review their recent results.”

“The new order requires CEOs and financial chiefs at companies with more than $1.2 billion in revenue last year to swear under oath in writing that the numbers in their companies’ recent financial reports are correct. Companies must comply with the order at the time of their next SEC financial filing, which for most companies will be Aug. 14.”

“The requirement, which applies to 947 companies, could expose corporate chieftains to civil charges of fraud, or to criminal charges of lying to the government or possibly perjury, if their companies’ numbers turn out to be bogus, lawyers say. The SEC can’t bring criminal charges itself, but regularly refers cases to the Justice Department for prosecution.”

“Meanwhile, the SEC has proposed a rule that would apply to future filings and could require senior executives of all public companies to certify the accuracy of financial results. That proposal will be taken up by the agency after a comment period ends on Aug. 19.”

“Currently, top executives at many companies do not sign every filing with the SEC, and when they do it is on behalf of the company and not a personal endorsement, lawyers said.”

” ‘We support the SEC’s efforts to restore confidence in the financial markets and it’s an unfortunate sign of the times that the SEC has to ask for this type of certification from America’s largest companies,’ said Martin McGuinn, chief executive of Mellon Financial Corp. of Pittsburgh. ‘There shouldn’t be any impact on CEOs and CFOs if they’ve been doing their job correctly but it will force them to focus if they haven’t been,’ he said.”