July 08, 2005
Small Business will be Held to Same Sarbanes-Oxley Standards
Many had hoped that with a new SEC chairman coming on board, that small business might be getting a break in compliance with Section 404 requirements. Much has been made of the cost of Sarbanes-Oxley with no apparent benefits. But if Senator Oxley is right, better get going on your compliance projects because there are no such changes in the offing.
An excerpt from an article on SOX and small business from www.ft.com
Mr Oxley told the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) annual conference: "After WorldCom happened it was difficult to legislate responsibly in that type of hot-house atmosphere. But I am proud of the bill. Compliance [with it] is an investment in the strength of the US capital markets."
Speaking to the Financial Times before his speech, Mr Oxley said: "If I had another crack at it, I would have provided a bit more flexibility for small- and medium-sized companies."
In response to concerns, the Securities and Exchange Commission is considering whether smaller public companies should abide by a different set of accounting and governance requirements compared with larger ones, to reduce costs.
However, Mr Oxley appeared to quash hopes that smaller companies would gain concessions as a result of the initiative. He said: "Congress will not re-visit this issue. The SEC reform [on smaller companies] is not going to happen either."
So if your company could use some help in rapidly and effectively complying with Sarbanes-Oxley, check out www.issuescentral.com\meth1.com and see how the Compliance Playbook(tm) can help cut cost, reduce time and provide benefits to your project.
An excerpt from an article on SOX and small business from www.ft.com
Mr Oxley told the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) annual conference: "After WorldCom happened it was difficult to legislate responsibly in that type of hot-house atmosphere. But I am proud of the bill. Compliance [with it] is an investment in the strength of the US capital markets."
Speaking to the Financial Times before his speech, Mr Oxley said: "If I had another crack at it, I would have provided a bit more flexibility for small- and medium-sized companies."
In response to concerns, the Securities and Exchange Commission is considering whether smaller public companies should abide by a different set of accounting and governance requirements compared with larger ones, to reduce costs.
However, Mr Oxley appeared to quash hopes that smaller companies would gain concessions as a result of the initiative. He said: "Congress will not re-visit this issue. The SEC reform [on smaller companies] is not going to happen either."
So if your company could use some help in rapidly and effectively complying with Sarbanes-Oxley, check out www.issuescentral.com\meth1.com and see how the Compliance Playbook(tm) can help cut cost, reduce time and provide benefits to your project.
