The changing politics of Sarbox

Now that the election is over, are the politics of Sarbanes-Oxley going to change much? Well, some groups may renew their calls to repeals the laws. Biotech and other tech industry advocacy groups are certainly not going to give up. Newt Gingrich has likewise reiterated his call to get rid of the law. But the fact remains that neither candidate made an issue of it on the campaign trail. The fact also remains that many large companies have made their peace with the law, and indeed have found some strategic benefits to compliance.

One of the big political questions about Sarbox has been about small-company compliance, and we've seen some interesting movement there. Rep Tom Feeney, for example, co-sponsored a bill to delay 404 implementation for non-accelerated companies and had been carrying the anti-Sarbox torch, notes Compliance Week. Then he lost his Florida seat. John Kerry, also cautious about applying 404 to small companies, won but might take a position in the Obama administration. Who knows if someone will champion the cause in the senate? At this point, the most cautious course of action by small public companies, is to assume that you'll have to comply.

For more:
- here's the Compliance Week item [1]