SEC Moving in Right Direction on Section 404, Says Chamber

Other SEC Proposals Unveiled Today a "Mixed Bag"

WASHINGTON, D.C.-The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is moving in the right direction by trying to ease compliance requirements with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley law that unnecessarily burden public companies without providing adequate benefit, according to the U.S. Chamber. The SEC held a public meeting today in which it discussed a number of issues important to the business community.

"We applaud the SEC for moving toward a scaled standard flexible to the needs of companies of all sizes," said U.S. Chamber Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer David Chavern. "We thank SEC Chairman Cox for his leadership on this issue and look forward to carefully evaluating the SEC guidance, as well as the anticipated revised accounting standard from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board."

The Chamber noted that implementation of the changes was key, and looked forward to commenting on the proposal and working with the SEC to ensure that it will lead to actual improvement for public companies.

The Chamber called a number of other proposals discussed at the SEC's open meeting today a "mixed bag":

• Mutual Fund Rule-After twice successfully challenging the SEC's proposed mutual fund rule, the Chamber remains deeply skeptical of the value and usefulness of such a rule.
• Hedge Fund Investing-The Chamber supports raising the accredited investor standard, which has not been updated since 1982, to protect retail market participants.
• Use of E-Proxy-While the Chamber supports the use of technology to improve information for shareholders and to decrease costs for companies, it has recommended a one-year pilot period to ensure that the move to e-proxy does not unintentionally result in reduced participation.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

www.uschamber.com

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