The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Dec. 16 the creation of an advisory panel to examine the impact of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other securities laws on smaller public companies.
The move is part of an initiative to alleviate the regulatory burden on small issuers—one that has been gaining momentum in recent months at the Commission and industry standard setters. In September, for example, SEC Division of Corporation Finance Director Alan Beller stated that the Commission may be considering ways to ease the accounting and disclosure burdens of small public companies (see related coverage at right). One month later, the Commission issued an order that would grant certain small accelerated filers up to an additional 45 days to include in 10-Ks the required internal control reports as mandated by SOX Section 404. And last week, the Financial Accounting Standards Board finalized its stock option expensing rule, delaying the effective date for small-businesses to Dec. 15, 2005.
