SEC ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON SMALLER COMPANIES PUBLISHES AGENDA, NAMES WITNESS PANELS, FOR NEW YORK MEETING

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2005-90

Washington, D.C., June 14, 2005 - The Securities and Exchange Commission's Advisory Committee on Smaller Public Companies has published its agenda and identified the witnesses it plans to hear from at its meeting at Columbia University Law School in New York City on June 16 and 17, 2005. The witnesses include officials from Nasdaq and the American Stock Exchange, experts on research analyst coverage of small cap companies and a variety of other persons knowledgeable about securities regulation of smaller public companies.

The Advisory Committee was established by the SEC under the leadership of Chairman William H. Donaldson to examine the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other fed-eral securities laws on smaller public companies. The Committee will develop recommendations and issue a final report by April 2006.

Previously, on April 12, 2005, the Committee voted to solicit public comment on a proposed committee agenda. The Committee will consider the comments submitted on the agenda and discuss other business on June 16, the first day of its two-day meeting in New York. On the second day of the meeting, June 17, the Committee will take testimony from witnesses. The testimony will focus on methods the Advisory Committee might recommend to scale securities regulations for smaller public companies. The Committee's goal is to assure that the costs and burdens of regulation are commensurate with the benefits to investors and the public.

Alan Beller, Director of the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance, which is providing staff support for the Advisory Committee, said, "An academic environment is well suited for the Advisory Committee to pursue its goal of seeking solutions to regulatory prob-lems faced by smaller public companies."

The Advisory Committee meeting will be held in Room 103 of Columbia Law School's Jerome Greene Hall, 435 West 116th Street, New York, New York, from 1:00 to 5:30 p.m. on June 16 and from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on June 17. The meeting will be audio webcast on the Commission's website at www.sec.gov.

The agenda for the meeting, including information on composition of the witness panels, follows.

       

Thursday, June 16, 1:00 p.m. - Business Session

1. Introductory Remarks
    

Jim Thyen and Herb Wander, Co-Chairs

2. Review of Comments Received on Committee Agenda
    
3. Reports from Subcommittees:
    

Capital Formation

Accounting Standards

Corporate Governance and Disclosure

Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

4. Discussion of Factual Input
    

Hearings

Questionnaires

SEC Office of Economic Analysis

SEC Office of Risk Assessment

5. Reaffirm or Revise Committee Agenda
    
6. Discussion of Timetable
    
7. Next Steps
    

Planning for August Meeting

8. Adjournment
    

       

Friday, June 17, 9:00 a.m. - Public Hearing

1. First Panel (9:00--10:45 a.m.)
    

Edward S. Knight, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc.

Neal L. Wolkoff, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, American Stock Exchange LLC

Alan Patricof, Co-Founder, Apax Partners

Wayne A. Kolins, National Director of Assurance and Chairman of the Board, BDO Seidman, LLP; Executive Committee Member, Center for Public Company Audit Firms, American Institute of Certified Pub-lic Accountants

Bill Loving, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice President, Pendleton County Bank, Franklin, West Virginia (testifying on behalf of Independent Community Bankers of America)

R. Daniel Blanton, Chief Executive Officer and President, Georgia Bank Financial Corporation (testifying on behalf of American Bankers As-sociation)

2. Second Panel (11:00 a.m.--12:30 p.m.)
    

William J. Carney, Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law, School of Law, Emory University

R. Cromwell Coulson, Chief Executive Officer, Pink Sheets LLC

Michael Taglich, Co-Founder, President, and Chairman, Taglich Brothers, Inc.

Gayle Essary, Chief Executive Officer, Investrend Communications, Inc.

David N. Feldman, Managing Partner, Feldman Weinstein LLP

John P. O'Shea, President, Westminster Securities Corp.

http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2005-90.htm