SEC Sets Agenda for Internal Controls Roundtable

The Securities and Exchange Commission has unveiled the agenda for next week's day-long meeting on internal controls compliance. The April 13 roundtable will include a series of six panels comprised of representatives of public companies, auditors, investors and attorneys. Section 404 of the sweeping Sarbanes-Oxley Act mandates that public issuers assess the effectiveness of their internal controls over financial reporting. For large companies, compliance became mandatory last year. For smaller companies with a market cap under $700 million and over $75 million compliance becomes mandatory in 2006. The SEC said that it would seek input from executives at larger firms, including feedback on the cost and benefits. The panels will cover such issues as: the first year of compliance, reporting to the public, planning and design, and documentation and testing using judgment in communications and conclusions. In addition to the roundtable, the SEC will seek written feedback from registrants, auditors and others on their experiences in implementing Section 404, and post the comments on its Web site. The roundtable will be Webcast on the commission's Web site at www.sec.gov. Selected other materials related to the roundtable are available at http://www.sec.gov/spotlight/soxcomp.htm.