SOX Center

To help CFOs of smaller companies navigate wisely through the Sarbanes-Oxley compliance process, Lord & Benoit has published a study, “10 Threats to SOX Compliance for Smaller Public Companies.”
The study comes on the heels of actions by the SEC and PCAOB to require smaller public companies to comply with SOX this year.
In summarizing the results, […]

The timing of the scandal helped build support for tougher rules in the 2002 bill on securities laws.
His name is not on the law, but maybe it should be. Perhaps more than either Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes or Rep. Michael G. Oxley, Bernard J. Ebbers is responsible for the far-reaching change in U.S. securities laws […]

The US Treasury has welcomed a statement released by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board regarding their votes to address the implementation of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act:
“The SEC and the PCAOB, after carefully considering the effects of Section 404, moved this week to strike the right balance […]

U.S. accounting overseers voted Thursday to streamline rules for auditors’ assessments of corporate financial statements, in a move that supporters say will save time and simplify burdens imposed by the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
By unanimous vote, the five members of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board approved a new standard directing accounting companies to focus their […]

The financial reporting legislation may be changed in order to relax stringent regulations and reduce the cost of compliance
Regulators are preparing to review elements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to determine whether or not portions of the financial reporting legislation should be relaxed to ease the burden on companies doing business in the United States.
On May […]

U.S. securities regulators will vote on tweaks to the controversial Sarbanes-Oxley law on Wednesday, finalizing changes initially approved in April amid continuing complaints from businesses about the law’s unpopular accounting provision.
At issue is Section 404 of the law, which was passed in 2002 following scandals at Enron and other companies. The section requires companies to […]

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board on May 24, 2007, will vote on a final standard on auditing internal control over financial reporting, as well as a related independence rule and conforming amendments to the Board’s auditing standards. If adopted, the new standard would supersede the Board’s existing auditing standard, Auditing Standard No. 2, “An […]

Teamwork counts, especially when it comes to committing crimes at a corporation.
In a new examination of 374 companies accused of securities fraud between 1997 and 2002, an average of seven people were implicated in each case, including CEOs, chief financial officers, chief operating officers, general counsels, board directors and auditors.
“Far from being a solitary act, […]

The US Senate’s thumping defeat of an amendment to exempt certain small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) from compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is bad for business US poiticians have declared.
SMBs fell foul of political battles by those decrying the amendment as an attack on shareholder protections and others countering that SOX is […]

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board on Friday concluded its first International Auditor Regulatory Institute.
Representatives from auditor regulators and government agencies from more than 40 countries convened on Wed., May 2, in Washington, D.C., to learn more about the PCAOB’s programs and how it carries out its mandate under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
The […]