SEC extends Sarbanes-Oxley deadlines for smaller firms - Most public companies will not have to comply with financial reporting requirements set by Sarbanes-Oxley for at least one more year, because of a deadline extension granted Friday by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Agency proposes new auditing standard - The agency that regulates the U.S. accounting industry on Tuesday proposed a new standard for public company auditors that would give them more leeway to focus on areas they consider most critical, among other changes.

Plan Unveiled to Scrap A Sarbanes-Oxley Rule - Accounting industry overseers yesterday scrapped an audit rule targeted by businesses as expensive and burdensome, proposing looser guidelines that would direct accountants to focus on the integrity of corporate managers and the most risky aspects of a company’s financial reports.

SEC Says Materiality Should Drive 404 - The SEC proposes guidance to help cure corporate executives of what commissioner Paul Atkins calls an “obsessive-compulsive mentality” in checking for controls lapses.

PCAOB Unveils Latest Big Four Audit Deficiencies - Nearly two weeks after the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s audit inspection team cited Deloitte & Touche for audit deficiencies, the oversight body’s report on PricewaterhouseCoopers criticized a number of 2005 audits performed by that Big Four firm.

Canadian firms fall short in accounting study - Canadian firms reporting under the tough American Sarbanes-Oxley Act have more internal control problems than American companies, according to a new study.