SEC Gives Small Companies Section 404 Compliance Extension

On Friday, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it is extending the deadline for small companies to comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. According to the SEC press release, publicly traded companies with a public float below $75 million will be required to report on the effectiveness of their internal controls over financial reporting with fiscal years ending on or after June 15, 2010. This is a six-month extension over the previous deadline, which was December 15, 2009.

SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro indicated that this will be the final extension. She said, "Since there will be no further Commission extensions, it is important for all public companies and their auditors to act with deliberate speed to move toward full Section 404 compliance."

 

Our Heartfelt Sympathies

Christine Sarbanes, the wife of SOX co-sponsor Paul Sarbanes, passed away on March 22, and our deepest sympathies go out to Senator Sarbanes and his family. As befitted her commitment and service to education and literacy, Mrs. Sarbanes’ memorial service was held at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore on April 3. The Baltimore Sun’s obituary and coverage of her memorial service paint a picture of a woman whose intelligence, dedication, and warmth infused her work and her life.

Although I met Mrs. Sarbanes on only one occasion, I vividly remember her strength and encouragement. I met her when her husband, along with Congressman Mike Oxley, gave keynote addresses at the ACFE’s 18th Annual Fraud Conference in Orlando, Florida, in July of 2007. Both Senator and Mrs. Sarbanes attended my session, and afterwards were kind enough to acknowledge the work I was doing to further the SOX Act and to wish me and the SOX Institute well. She will be missed.