Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox isn’t ruling out further delays in applying stricter accounting requirements on small public companies but said such relief isn’t the option preferred by regulators.

About 6,000 smaller public companies have yet to come under two requirements adopted by Congress in 2002 as part of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, calling for companies to make an annual assessment of their internal financial-reporting controls, with further review by the company’s outside auditor. Regulators have delayed applying that portion of the law to smaller companies amid complaints that compliance has been very costly and time-consuming for larger companies. In response to such complaints, the SEC and Public Company Accounting Oversight Board are working to make the requirement less burdensome for all companies.

[1] SmartPros: SEC Chairman: Sarbanes-Oxley Relief for Small Firms Not First Choice