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The U.S. Treasury Department will host a conference March 12-13 to discuss the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and possible reforms, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Thursday.

Businesses complain that Sarbanes-Oxley, a package of accounting and governance changes enacted by Congress after a wave of corporate scandals in the late 1990s, has proved too costly and difficult to follow. Paulson, speaking to the Economic Club of Washington, said overall, the changes have had a positive effect on business.

“The vast majority of the change, in my judgment, has been good,” Paulson said.

A look at recent scandals involving big payouts to company executives via backdated stock options stemmed from activities predating Sarbanes-Oxley, Paulson said. Sarbanes-Oxley reporting requirements discouraged such behavior later on, he said.

Morningstar: Treasury To Host Sarbanes-Oxley Conference March 12-13

Finance chiefs of the world’s seven richest nations agreed over the weekend to look at ways to cut back on overlapping regulations for companies doing business internationally while at the same time recognizing each nation’s unique rules and standards.

The agreement by the finance ministers and central bank governors of the G7 to try to harmonize their regulatory regimes and ease trade in securities across their borders appeared to be the latest attempt by policymakers to take a hard look at regulatory burdens on companies and markets.

In separate remarks to reporters, the Wall Street Journal reported, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said he and his international counterparts are exploring ways to reduce overlapping financial regulations and standards that burden companies operating in the global market.

Regulations including accounting standards mandated by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 have come under heavy fire by businesses and some lawmakers who say the rules are driving up the cost of doing business and making the U.S. less competitive.

MarketWatch: G7 takes aim at overlapping regulatory burdens