SEC Seeks Public Input on Sarbanes-Oxley

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Advisory Committee on Smaller Public Companies is turning its attention to the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, as it asks for public input on the 2002 legislation.

According to an article by Jena Wuu on the Inc.com website, the SEC has posted a new survey on its website with 29 questions for small business CEOs regarding the impact of the controversial SOX Act. Some of the survey topics range from the effect of SOX on “this country’s culture of entrepreneurship” to specific issues weighing the cost benefits of Section 404, Wuu says.

Gerald Laporte, chief, office of small business policy, told Wuu that the survey received 42 responses on its first day. Laporte also said that the committee has already been able to form at least one recommendation from the Act, based on those responses.

Wuu says SOX has “sparked debate in part because of the claim by some small businesses that compliance was too costly and discouraged them from taking their companies public.” She cites a June PricewaterhouseCoopers' Trendsetter Barometer, which found that about 30 percent of fast-growing private companies have either adopted Sarbanes-Oxley regulations or plan to.

“However, with an average annual cost of $138,000 and a 34 percent increase in audit costs to private companies who choose to comply, Sarbanes-Oxley has caused many small businesses to question whether the benefits of compliance actually outweigh the costs,” Wuu adds.

To read the full article, click here: www.inc.com/criticalnews/articles/200508/sox.html