The Securities and Exchange Commission, scrambling to find ways to cut the costs of complying with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act without gutting the act, said yesterday that it expected to propose a rule aimed at curbing costs, the New York Times reports. The commission published a “concept release,” setting forth numerous questions regarding both how the carrying out of the law had proceeded and what should be done now. It asked for comments on those questions over the next two months.
At issue is Section 404 of the law, which requires public companies to assess the adequacy of their internal financial controls and to have that assessment reviewed by external auditors. That provision of the law was based on a law passed in 1991 requiring banks to certify their internal controls and was expected to add little in the way of costs.
