Sarbanes-Oxley Costs Soar, Says Roundtable Group

A study released by a group of top corporate managers reports there has been a “steep increase” in the cost of compliance with new stock exchange listing standards and federal accounting and disclosure law.

Washington-based Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. corporations, mentioned the implementation of the federal Sarbanes-Oxley law as a major factor.

According to the group's third annual survey of CEOs from 160 companies, the number of firms reporting that their estimated compliance costs were more than $10 million nearly doubled, jumping to 47 percent from 22 percent that was reported in 2004. Close to one-third of respondents reported costs in the range of $6-to-10 million.