Choice "D" is correct. The Committee on Sponsoring Organizations (COSO), an independent private sector initiative, was initially established in the mid 1980's to study the factors that can lead to fraudulent financial reporting. The COSO is sometimes referred to as the Treadway Commission after its original Chairman, James Treadway, Jr., an executive in the private sector. The private "sponsoring organizations" included the five major financial professional associations in the United States: the American Accounting Association (AAA), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the Financial Executives Institute (FEI), the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), and the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA).
Choices "a", "c", and "b" are incorrect, based on the above explanation.