Almost three-quarters of the chief financial officers in the US believe that Sarbanes-Oxley should be “repealed or reformed” as the costs of the 2002 compliance law have outweighed the benefits, according to a survey.

The findings underscore the scale of frustration over the costs associated with implementing “Sarbox”, even as regulators said that costs were expected to fall as new guidelines for the law were finalised.

In a survey of 484 chief financial officers by Duke University and CFO Magazine, almost 70 per cent said the costs of adhering to Sarbox requirements - principally its section 404 provisions on checking internal controls - “greatly outweigh its benefits”.

A total of 35 per cent said repeal or reform of the law was “badly needed”, although no distinction was made in the survey questions between repeal or reform.

Most business groups and US law makers believe the law does not need to be repealed, although a majority believe that reform of the way it is implemented is needed.

Such reform is already being carried out. The Securities and Exchange Commission has just provided executives with new guidance on Sarbox implementation.

[1] The Australian: CFOs call for Sarbanes repeal