While the unveiling of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s final management guidance on evaluating and assessing internal control over financial reporting held few surprises, observers had mixed reactions to some of the revisions, particularly the decision not to extend the filing deadline for non-accelerated filers.
As expected, the SEC voted last week to approve the guidance with few changes from its December proposal, beyond clarifications and revisions to better align it with the related auditing standard from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. While most observers said they’d reserve judgment on the changes until the text of the guidance and rule amendments becomes available in coming weeks, views were mixed on the decision not to grant smaller companies an additional delay.
