404(b) Exemption Through the House

In this blog, on June 24, 2010, I wrote about the financial reform bill and how the House/Senate reconciliation subcommittees were hammering out differences between the House and Senate version of the financial reform bill, including the determination as to whether the final bill to be put before the House, Senate and President will contain a permanent exemption from Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404(b)’s auditor attestation requirement for small public companies (those with a market capitalization under $75 million).  On June 30, 2010, the House approved the reconciled version of the bill – and it includes the permanent exemption! The next step is approval by the Senate of the reconciled financial reform bill.  Assuming that happens, as most believe it will, then the bill moves to the President for signature, also expected to occur.  Assuming these two things happen (currently on track for about a week to 10 days from now, despite the committee’s original intent to present the bill before the 4th of July weekend), then the permanent exemption from 404(b) for small public companies would be law.  But, given the history of this exemption, I won’t blame anyone for not wanting to count the chickens before they hatch.  Check back here for the latest updates.