Darning SOX

An SEC advisory committee last week wrapped up a year of work by recommending that the commission enact measures that could slash the expense of complying with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for most public biotech companies.

CFOs should keep their champagne bottles corked, however, because the deck is stacked against the commission simply adopting the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Smaller Public Companies. Two of the five commissioners have publicly suggested that they will reject the committee's proposals to ease the internal controls and audit requirements of SOX on smaller companies. ...