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Public Cos.: Compliance Costs Down; Audit, Out-of-Pocket Costs Up

[print version]

In its fifth annual study on the costs associated with corporate governance reform, law firm Foley & Lardner LLP report that companies of all sizes experienced double-digit percentage increases in compliance costs. These figures represent fiscal year 2006 in comparison to fiscal year 2001, the year prior to the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Specifically, the Foley study reports that the average cost of compliance for companies with under $1 billion in annual revenue has increased more than $1.7 million, to approximately $2.8 million since the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. This represents a 171 percent overall increase between fiscal years 2001 and 2006.

While certain costs -- particularly internal costs associated with Section 404 compliance -- decreased, out-of-pocket costs continued to rise at double-digit rates in 2006.


Read the press release.

Read the study.

See FEI study from May 2007.

[print version]



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