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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

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 Company Accounting Oversight Board must implement the internal-controls section of the law in a way that “does not hamper America’s competitiveness.” She said that “postponing the compliance deadlines for at least an additional year would allow us to make this determination.”

The 2002 law requires company management to evaluate internal controls over financial reporting, subject to review by outside auditors. The SEC has delayed applying the rules to more than 6,000 small companies at least four times, most recently citing a need to make the rules more efficient. Under current policy, small public companies will begin submitting management reports in 2008, and the auditor reports in 2009.

Nasdaq: House Lawmaker Calls On SEC To Delay Internal-Controls Rules

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 duplicative burdens they face.” ACB was the only banking group to be invited to testify.

Casey-Landry explained that banks have 11 years of experience in filing internal control reports with their primary regulator and the FDIC, but now face the additional burden of costs and a second layer of internal control financial reporting required by section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. “No other publicly traded company is subjected to the same scrutiny as a publicly trade bank,” she declared.

Yahoo News: ACB Calls for Exemption of Community Banks From Requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley Act

BIO Reiterates Support as Senate Small Business Committee Considers Changes

WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–As Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Christopher Cox and Public Companies Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) Chairman Mark Olsen prepare to testify before the Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship today, BIO reiterated its support for changes to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) that will specifically benefit small biotech companies.

“The biotechnology industry was particularly hard-hit by the complex and burdensome regulations imposed by SOX’s Section 404. We have supported changes to its implementation, so our companies can refocus on our most important mission of researching and developing new therapies to improve human health, expand our food supply, and provide new sources of energy,” said BIO President and CEO Jim Greenwood. “We are pleased to see that agency and congressional leaders are listening.”

Yahoo!Finance: Biotech Research and Development Will Benefit from Sarbanes-Oxley Changes

The American Bankers Association has asked securities regulators to continue exempting smaller public companies from stricter accounting requirements adopted by Congress in 2002, deferring application for another two to three years.

In a letter Monday to Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox, the banking trade group said it “strongly urges” smaller companies remain exempt from requirements to assess internal financial-reporting controls, have them reviewed by their outside auditor, and report major flaws to investors and regulators.

Senate Small Business Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass.; House Small Business Committee Chairwoman Nydia Velasquez, D-N.Y.; and the senior Republicans on those panels, Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, are in strong support of such a delay, as is the Small Business Administration, according to the ABA.

Dow Jones Newswires: Bankers Assn Seeks Continued Small-Business Exemption