Cox Claims SOX Deadline Extension Helpful to Small Companies

Chairman of the SEC, Christopher Cox claimed in congressional testimony that his new plan to extend Sarbanes-Oxley deadlines for smaller public companies will help them by minimizing compliance issues and rejecting one-size-fits-all regulation.

"Chairman Cox is doing the right thing for smaller public companies," said Thomas M. Sullivan, Chief Counsel for Advocacy (part of the Small Business Administration). "By asking for an extension of the deadline for compliance with Section 404(b) of Sarbanes-Oxley, and calling for a complete study of the costs and benefits of Section 404, he has clearly shown that he listened to the voice of small business."

The SEC has been under almost constant pressure ever since the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002 over the cost to small companies. In particular the level of "gold-plating" companies felt they had to have in place for compliance.

In May, Sullivan asked the SEC to revisit the issue of compliance deadline extensions for smaller public firms. The request mirrored that of Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship, and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), the Ranking Member.


In April, Sullivan testified before Congress that, "There is a compelling record demonstrating that the costs of complying with Section 404 are large and disproportionately high for small public companies. ... Advocacy believes that the excessive cost of Section 404 internal controls reporting may restrict a new generation of small innovative companies from seeking capital in the U.S. capital markets."

The Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent voice for small business within the federal government. The presidentially appointed Chief Counsel for Advocacy advances the views, concerns, interests of small business before Congress, the White House, federal agencies, federal courts, and state policy makers.