August 24, 2006
To Whom It May Concern:
Thank you for the opportunity of responding to your inquiry about eh implementation of SOX 404 for small companies. I am the CFO of two public companies in Wyoming, U.S. Energy Corp. and Crested Corp. To my knowledge there are the only public companies in Wyoming. We have completed the documentation phase of our corporate governance and accounting policies and procedures. We now are entering the testing phase.
The cost of doing this is very prohibitive. As there are so few public companies in Wyoming we have to go outside the state for independent accountants and now have to go outside again for internal auditors. Currently our independent accountants are from Phoenix and our internal auditors come from Los Angles. Not only is it costly in a monetary sense but the dedication of our limited manpower resources is very detrimental to our overall operations. To have internal auditors to check the auditors who check us in the size of company we have is a bit much. We have 3 people in the accounting department.
This past spring I met with many of the members of the Senate and House. Some of them were sponsoring the COMPTET bill. I would lobby for support of the bill as it does take into account that all companies are not IBM or General Motors. Some us are small with limited resources.
Thanks for the opportunity to respond. In the event that I can be of any further assistance please let me know.
Robert Scott Lorimer
CFO/V.P. Finance
U.S. Energy Corp.
877 N 8th W
Riverton, WY 82501