15 December – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – A Securities and Exchange Commission advisory panel voted to recommend that only the largest 20 percent of public companies be required to have auditors vouch for the internal controls of the entity. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act currently imposes a review of internal controls of all publicly traded companies by outside auditors.
The recommendation by the advisory panel will be made as a final report to the five members of the SEC. There has been concern expressed by the members of the SEC about the high costs of such internal review of controls incurred by small companies. If the exemption is passed by the SEC, it would benefit public companies with less than $700 million to $750 million in market capitalization.
