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Compliance September 21, 2005
SEC Votes for SOX Extension for Small Companies
September 21, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted unanimously to
give small businesses another year-long extension to comply
with the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley internal controls
rule.
Reported by Rebecca Moore
MarketWatch reports that the extension allows companies that have a public float of below $75 million to begin complying with Sarbanes-Oxley rules for their first fiscal year ending on or after July 15, 2007.
The internal-controls rule, under the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley law, requires that companies assess the controls they have in place to prevent accounting mistakes and fraud and have their external auditor attest to those controls. The assessment must be included in the company’s annual report, along with a description of any “material weaknesses” found.
The SEC considered the extension after receiving input from small businesses on their cost concerns for implementing the new rule (See Another Extension on SOX Compliance for Small Businesses ).