Senator Paul Sarbanes, as in Sarbanes-Oxley has criticised the decision to delay key compliance requirements for small, medium and foreign companies.

William Donaldson of the SEC was before the Senate Commerce Committee, at a hearing on the act.

Sen. Sarbanes told Donaldson that "unless wth move forward we will have different companies operating with different standards.".

Companies with less than $75m of market capitalisation and all foreign companies have an extra year to comply with internal control measures. Essentially that means section 404.

Medium sized firms will have an extra 45 days after their first fiscal year ends to comply.Medium means $100-$700m.

Donaldson stood up for the change. Smaller companies would benefit from the lessons learned by larger companies. Foreign companies also have to deal with major accounting changes with the move towards International standards.

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