SEC Begins Sarbox Study, Makes SMB Deadline Delay Official

The Securities and Exchange Commission has once again delayed the Sarbanes-Oxley compliance deadline for small businesses for a year. This time, the agency plans to gather more information on the costs and benefits of compliance for smaller companies under the commission’s new principles-based implementation guidelines, the commission says. To that end, the SEC has begun a study consisting of a Web-based survey and in-depth interviews with small companies that are just beginning their compliance efforts. The announcement is certainly good news for Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), who have been calling for additional information gathering since the new guidelines were adopted.