At a CFO Summit held last week in Boston, SEC Commissioner Roel Campos confirmed that the SEC is considering a delay of the internal control provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley for smaller issuers. “Relief for small business is being looked at,” said Campos. “We’re asking questions like, ‘What exemptions are deserved?’ and, ‘If you give too many exemptions, will people take it seriously?’”
Campos’ comments were in line with those of SEC chief accountant Donald Nicolaisen, who told Compliance Week Nov. 9 that the Commission was indeed considering a delay for small companies. “If it looks like a large number of companies won t be able to comply,” he said, “we will consider whether there is some relief we can make available to limited segments of our registrant community” (see original article in box at right).
