A new report released this month suggests that both large and small public companies will see huge reductions in the costs associated with complying with Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley, as regulators are expected to soon consider whether to scale back the requirements of that provision for some companies.
The study of 404 costs, conducted by economic consulting firm CRA International and commissioned by the Big 4—Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers—is the latest survey to conclude that Year Two costs related to the internal control provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley are expected to decline. As Compliance Week reported in October, two other studies also projected reductions in the Year Two costs associated with complying with 404 (see related coverage at right).
