SOX Center

Commissioners of the government’s watchdog for Wall Street will face questions about their efforts to protect investors and oversee markets during a House hearing on Tuesday.
Members of the House Financial Services Committee will line up Tuesday afternoon to ask Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox and the four other SEC commissioners about the agency’s […]

Two separate oversight bodies responsible for financial reporting and auditing rules under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)–the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Public Company Accounting Oversight Board–took steps in late May to streamline and clarify the act’s requirements.
On May 23, the SEC approved new guidelines for interpreting section 404 of SOX, instructing companies to focus […]

Says Sarbanes-Oxley creates fear of litigation
A study of 4,000 U.S. companies shows the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate reform law has had a chilling effect on risk-taking as many companies seek to conserve cash instead of developing new products or services, a University of Pittsburgh researcher said yesterday.
U.S. companies significantly cut research and development spending and capital expenditures, […]

TOPIC: An annual study by Oversight Systems found approximately 75 percent of certified fraud examiners claimed institutional fraud is more common now than five years ago according to an article by Wall Street and Technology. Four out of five survey participants cited the pressure “to do whatever it takes to meet goals” as the most […]

SINGAPORE: Creative Technology, whose music players compete with the Apple iPod, said it planned to end trading of its shares on the Nasdaq Stock Market to cut costs incurred by U.S. financial reporting requirements.
The Singapore-based company plans to file notice to remove the listing of its shares from the U.S. exchange on or around July […]

Small public companies nationwide now face major Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance headaches. The root of their discomfort is the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) controversial yet unanimous decision on May 23 not to extend the SOX compliance deadline for companies with less than $75 million in market capital.
Fortunately for small business CEOs and CFOs, renewed peace […]

Study finds small firms hit especially hard
A new University of Georgia study finds that the landmark Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and related rule changes of the major stock exchanges have dramatically altered the makeup of corporate boards, making them larger and more independent. The legislation also had the unintended effect of increasing director pay by […]

Jack Ciesielski submits: CFO.com reports that Senators John Kerry (Massachusetts) and Olympia Snowe (Maine) have sent another letter to SEC Chairman Christopher Cox requesting further delay in the implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act’s Section 404 for small companies.
It’s deja vu all over again: they sent a letter to him last February on the same subject.
Here’s […]

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act hasn’t helped in the long-running battle against corporate fraud, according to a recent survey of certified fraud examiners — a staggering 76 percent of whom reported that fraud is more prevalent today than five years ago.
The 2007 Report on Corporate Fraud, conducted for governance software vendor Oversight Systems Inc., noted that that […]

You almost have to get lost to find Ocean Bio-Chem, a Fort Lauderdale company that makes the Star Brite brand of cleaning products for boats. It’s hidden away in the back of an industrial park alongside Florida’s Turnpike. Walk into CEO Peter Dornau’s cramped ground-floor office, and Jake, his chocolate Labrador, follows you in.
You get […]