C'mon, this is getting silly. Since more than half of the public companies are below the $75 million mark, this has potential to be very damaging to investors who are already beaten down. Companies are already doing audits so it's questionable how painful this argument really is. There have been enough problems related to audits (and the auditors, in particular) but to weaken the system any more seems to run counter to properly reforming a very damaged system. Huffington Post:
The provision mandates that firms obtain audits of their internal controls. Companies say it costs too much. Though these firms have received annual deferrals from this requirement since its 2004 enactment -- some think the fiercely anti-regulatory Bush administration had something to do with this -- SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro said last month that the deferrals had ended, and that the firms would be expected to comply by 2010.
So Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), John Adler (D-N.J.) and Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) went to work. All three offered amendments to delay or prevent its planned implementation. Adler's amendment from last week went the furthest, proposing to exempt four out of five publicly traded companies.
