Compliance: November 2006 Archives

A story on page 1 of the Nov 10 Wall Street Journal reports that the SEC is re-evaluting interpretation of Section 404 of the SOX rule, which dictates internal review and external auditing of financial reporting systems.

Citing pressure from "the nation's business lobby," the SEC is taking steps to allow a "more flexible reading," and intends to "propose guidance . . . to help companies and auditors interpret Section 404 in a way likely to save them time and money." The new guidance is expected next month.

See "Business Wins Its Battle to Ease A Costly Sarbanes-Oxley Rule" for details.

$25 billion.
That's the cost of compliance in the U.S. Securities Industry for 2005 according to the Securities Industry Association (SIA).

59 percent.
That's the percentage of respondents to a SearchStorage.com poll that did not know if they were in compliance because they could not figure out what they have to do.

$15 million.
That's the amount Morgan Stanley was fined for failing to produce tens of thousands of e-mails during SEC investigations from December, 2000 through through July, 2005.

No wonder compliance issues today = fear. They don't have to.

Compliance is about recordkeeping. The core issue is surprisingly clear -- focus on the lifecycle of paper and electronic communications – how information is created, routed, managed, accessed and archived.

Join us tomorrow, November 9, 2006 at 11:00am EDT for my panel discussion with Omtool CTO Thaddeus Bouchard and HP Financial Services Solutions Manager Joseph Wagle to discuss how to make compliance practices a seamless part of your business processes. Register here.