SEC Chairman William H. Donaldson will establish a committee to help the commission examine the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other securities laws on small public companies. The advisory committee will be headed by Herbert S. Wander, a partner in the Chicago law firm of Katten Muchin Zavis Rosenman, and James C. Thyen, CEO of manufacturing company Kimball International. Mr. Donaldson hopes to name up to 19 other members within a few weeks. The committee will focus on frameworks for internal control over relevant financial reporting, methods for assessing the control, and standards for auditing the control. It will also examine disclosure and reporting requirements, including corporate governance, for small public companies, as well as accounting standards and financial reporting requirements applicable to small companies.
The committee will conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other securities laws in each of these areas.
