Exec Survey: SOX Raising Costs, Liability

Chicago (July 28, 2003) -- On the eve of the first anniversary of the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley -- sweeping legislation that was designed to curb the spate of corporate scandals and to restore investor confidence -- its effects are receiving lukewarm reviews, according to a recent survey conducted by the national law firm of Foley & Lardner.

Roughly 93 percent of top-level executives who responded to the firm’s survey on Sarbanes-Oxley a year after its July 30, 2002 passage, indicated that the costs of doing business will rise as a result of the bill, and that they expect those costs to significantly rise in the future.

Some 75 percent of survey respondents agreed that their exposure to liability would increase as a result of the legislation, while some 56 percent felt that the Securities and Exchange Commission has not been effective in developing guidelines as mandated by Sarbanes-Oxley.

Fifty–nine percent believed that corporate governance reform as a result of the bill has “gone too far.”

Foley & Lardner polled about 1,900 “c-level” executives in the survey, with just over 10 percent of that number responding.

-- WebCPA staff

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