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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 Company Accounting Oversight Board Chairman Mark Olson, Small Business Committee Chairwoman Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y., and top panel Republican Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, asked for clarification about whether the SEC has developed cost estimates associated with changes to the 2002 corporate-governance law.

The letters follow a June 5 hearing about the law in the committee, and the adoption by the SEC and the accounting board of new guidance that will allow for focused checks on “internal controls” over financial reporting — the policies and procedures companies use to catch potential fraud on their books.

MarketWatch: Regulators asked for Sarbanes-Oxley costs

In ‘06, public companies benefited from earlier efforts to comply with the governance measure.

Public companies spent 23 percent less adhering to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act’s accounting rules in 2006, as they benefited from work done in earlier years to comply with the landmark federal corporate-governance law, a new survey found.

Complying with the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act cost companies $2.92 million on average last year, compared with $3.8 million in 2005, Financial Executives International said in a statement yesterday. Costs have fallen 35 percent from 2004, the first year companies were required to adhere to the law’s accounting requirements.

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Sarbanes-Oxley costs 23% lower

Comments about proposed changes to the controversial Sarbanes-Oxley law rolled in for a final day Monday, as debate about how best to implement it continued.

Monday marked the closing of the comment period for rules proposed in December by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board that aim to streamline Section 404 of the 2002 corporate-governance law. The section requires both management and outside auditors to sign off on a company’s internal financial controls.

But some commentators said the auditing provision could be tweaked even further.

“The rules and standards related to the implementation of Section 404 of the act still require significant attention,” said Grace Hinchman, senior vice president of government affairs for Financial Executives International, in a statement. The group is suggesting changes including allowing for “rotational” testing of controls that have operated effectively in the past.

MarketWatch: Further tweaks urged for Sarbanes-Oxley

Parts of the landmark 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley corporate governance law should be implemented in different ways to save businesses money and time, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in a speech Monday.

In prepared remarks to the Economic Club of New York, Paulson said a new law to amend the controversial act is not needed, but he acknowledged the impact its accounting provisions, in particular, are having on businesses large and small.

“We need to implement the law in ways that better balance the benefits of the legislation with the very significant costs that it imposes, especially on small businesses,” Paulson said.

Paulson singled out section 404 of the act, which has long drawn complaints from businesses for being costly and time-consuming. It requires management to sign off on the effectiveness of a company’s internal financial controls and requires an auditor’s attestation.

“Section 404 should be implemented in a more efficient and cost effective manner,” Paulson said.

The Securities and Exchange Commission will seek comments about a new auditing standard soon, Paulson said.

Morningstar: Paulson Calls For Some Sarbanes-Oxley Changes

For Silicon Valley venture capitalists eager to weaken the corporate governance law known as Sarbanes-Oxley, Representative Nancy Pelosi may prove to be a useful ally.

Pelosi, a Democrat, already has identified revising the law as a priority when she becomes the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives in January.

Venture capital firms have been lobbying the White House, legislators and regulators for months to water down the law, arguing that higher auditing and legal fees were driving companies to take initial public offerings overseas. This year, Pelosi has received more campaign money from partners at Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, which helped get Google and Amazon.com started, than she got from the labor federation AFL-CIO.

“Pelosi has stated several times that there need to be changes to Sarbanes- Oxley, particularly for smaller, emerging growth companies,” said Mark Heesen, president of the National Venture Capital Association in Arlington, Virginia. “There is a real possibility that there will be changes.”

IHT:Venture firms bank on Pelosi to relax Sarbanes-Oxley rules