Why is records retention so important today?
Records retention has been important all along to provide an orderly and cost-effective approach to eliminate valueless records from an organization. With the Arthur Andersen conviction for improper destruction of records (since overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court), the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the increase of litigation involving records, corporations in particular have finally focused on ensuring that they have a legally-defensible records retention program in place. A retention program, properly designed and properly implemented, ensures that required records are maintained for the appropriate period and that records destruction proceeds only when legally permitted.
