SOX Center

Roger Ehrenberg submits: I feared this day would come. And it’s here. No, not just the saber-rattling and moaning about how hedge fund and private equity-types are too rich, how hedge funds are increasing investor risks and debt buyers are accepting overly-liberal terms fueling the private equity juggernaut and the like.
But a newly-energized Democratic Congress […]

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 […]

The two top members of the House Small Business Committee asked regulators on Monday how much newly approved revisions to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act would save small companies, with the panel’s chairwoman saying a hearing about the law last week yielded only promises, not estimates.
In letters to Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox and Public […]

Almost three-quarters of the chief financial officers in the US believe that Sarbanes-Oxley should be “repealed or reformed” as the costs of the 2002 compliance law have outweighed the benefits, according to a survey.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

John Kerry and Olympia Snowe want another delay for small companies.
Senators John Kerry and Olympia Snowe have sent another letter to Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Christopher Cox asking him to give small companies more time to prepare for complying with the internal-control provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
The small-business committees in both the House and […]

Challenging optimism about the efficiency of new auditing standards, the House Small Business Committee’s chairwoman called on federal regulators to give thousands of small public companies even more time to comply with a controversial section of the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley law.
Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-NY, said on Tuesday that the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Public […]

Securities and Exchange Commission internal control reporting requirements because smaller banks are already required to report to their bank regulators.
Testifying before the House Small Business Committee, Diane Casey-Landry, ACB president and CEO, said: “Community banks are part of a highly regulated industry subject to alternative requirements, heightening the need for relief from the unnecessary and […]

Business advisors Grant Thornton LLP have applauded the SEC and the PCAOB for their efforts in addressing the legitimate concerns of the capital markets while still reinforcing the value of Sarbanes-Oxley to investors.
“We believe that the new guidance and auditing standards strike an appropriate balance between efficiency and effectiveness, though it will take time to […]

CCH principal analyst and leading author on securities law, Jim Hamilton, JD, LLM, has released a white paper on the long-awaited Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) issuances on internal controls over financial reporting under section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
CCH, a leading provider of securities law information, is […]

When the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission moved last week to relax a provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, it signalled the end to what could be called the Great Audit War.
Ever since U.S. lawmakers passed the corporate reforms in 2002, legal and financial executives have been waging a behind-the-scenes war with external auditors over the […]