Today the Securities and Exchange Commission announced another deferral of the obligation of non-accelerated filers to comply with Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
Over the last seven years, in several separate instances, the Commission has deferred the compliance date for non-accelerated filers to provide the auditor attestation under Section 404(b). I know that, as a result, there is uncertainty among investors and among non-accelerated filers about whether and when compliance with Section 404(b) would actually be required.
In light of this uncertainty, I want to highlight that in today's deferral, the Commission is for the first time resolving that uncertainty by making it clear that all public companies, regardless of size, will be required to comply with Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and that non-accelerated filers will begin complying in their first annual report for fiscal years ending on or after June 15, 2010.
I join Chairman Schapiro in assuring investors that there will be no further extensions of the compliance deadline.
http://www.sec.gov/news/speech/2009/spch100209laa.htm