My ABA Panel: Part II – Sarbanes 404(b) Relief?
By David Feldman at 25 April, 2010, 9:30 am
As you know from this space, we have been trying to keep tabs on Congressional activity regarding securities industry reform. Recall that the House passed the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 in December. In the Senate, Chris Dodd’s Banking Committee has passed the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010, which is now being worked on in the full Senate. Give the Senate the nod for picking a name with a better acronym (RAFSA vs. WSRACPA).
As we have discussed here, the House bill had one very important nugget for those of us working with smaller reporting companies. It provided a permanent exemption from the requirement under Sarbanes-Oxley that auditors attest to the adequacy of a company’s internal financial controls contained in Section 404(b) of the Act. Unfortunately, the Dodd bill as passed did not have a similar provision.
The cautiously optimistic good news learned at my panel: Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) is supporting an amendment to the Senate bill to include the permanent 404(b) relief for smaller companies already passed by the House. In fact, she is proposing that not only smaller reporting companies, but any company with less than $150 million market capitalization receive the permanent exemption. One speaker said this issue is “in play.” Why don’t we read about this in the papers? It’s just too small an issue to be covered given the much bigger issues in these bills. Where can you read about it? Right here!
More big news still coming…
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