SOX Center

FEI announced the results of its sixth Sarbanes-Oxley compliance survey, which found that Section 404 compliance cost Corporate America less in year three of adoption than in each of the first two years. FEI polled 200 companies to gauge experiences in complying with Section 404. Responding companies have average revenues of $6.8 billion.

According to the FEI survey, which included 172 “accelerated filers”— companies with market capitalizations above $75 million — total average cost for Section 404 compliance was $2.9 million during fiscal year 2006, which represents a 23 percent decrease from 2005 totals. The data also shows reductions in internal and external costs of compliance, with internal staff time decreasing by 10 percent. The lower costs can be attributed to companies’ increased efficiencies in complying with Section 404.

FEI Survey: Management Drives Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Costs Down, But Auditor Fees Virtually Unchanged

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced it will hold an open meeting on April 4 to discuss the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s proposed auditing standard for Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the coordination of that proposed standard with the SEC’s related pending proposal to provide guidance for management of public companies implementing Section 404.

Both proposals were published for public comment in December 2006, and the comment periods for both proposals ended on Feb. 26, 2007.

The open meeting represents a continuation of the process announced in May 2006 by the Commission and the PCAOB to improve the reliability of financial statements public companies file with the SEC while making compliance with Section 404 more efficient and cost effective.

As part of this process, the SEC has proposed management guidance for Section 404 compliance designed to focus attention on those internal controls that present the greatest risk for a material financial misstatement. At the same time, as a companion to the proposed SEC guidance, the PCAOB has proposed a thoroughgoing revision of its existing standard for Section 404 audits.

SmartPros: SEC Schedules Open Meeting to Discuss 404 Changes

Bolstered by a series of delays granted by the SEC and highly publicized criticism of Sarbanes-Oxley legislation, many smaller companies are playing the waiting game with Section 404 compliance. With the deadline fast-approaching, smaller companies need to look beyond the hype and accept that SOX is not going away.

Rumors are circulating about the possibility of a last-minute pardon. In light of this, it makes sense to separate fact from fiction. This is especially important as the 2007 deadline for compliance draws near.

It is a fact that larger companies, so-called “large-accelerated” and “accelerated” filers, are experiencing dramatically high costs. One university study estimates that the worldwide, direct and indirect costs in the first year of enforcement cost over $1 trillion dollars. It is also fact that the SEC publicly acknowledged the extreme cost of compliance experienced by large companies and granted delays to smaller public companies (a.k.a. non-accelerated filers).

PRWeb: Small Companies Play the Sarbanes-Oxley Waiting Game

Critics of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act have called for action before the powerful US legislation encroaches on Europe’s borders.

A ‘regulatory creep’ scenario is feared because Sarbox’s stringent Section 404 compliance and audit provisions could inadvertently find their way into the UK were the London Stock Exchange to be taken over by a US exchange.

Stateside regulators the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) have tried to reassure concerned parties by increasing their co-operation with the Financial Services Authority.

SEC chairman Christopher Cox, said that neither the body, or their European counterparts would be work to avoid any potential ‘over-reach’ into related. Jurisdictions.

SEC allays concerns over ‘Sarbox ‘regulatory creep’