Disclosure Committee Charter - Required? 1312
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Working for a smaller company in our first year of SOX compliance, we are facing a number of areas where we need to formalize our policies and procedures that were previously informal.
We have a Disclosure Committee. However. no charter exists. Is this one of those ‘must have’ formal policies?
Thanks,
Scott
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I. protiviti Consulting has a resource that addresses the question directly (protiviti.com).
Guide to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act: Internal Control Reporting Requirements - Third Edition
Updated to reflect PCAOB Auditing Standard No. 2
See Question #190, What is the Role of the Disclosure Committee?
Key Points:- It does not appear that SOX requires a formal Disclosure Committee Charter.
- If formally developed and adopted, a Disclosure Committee Charter could be used to serve as evidence of a Corporate Governance structure.
- The protiviti resource cautions that if a Disclosure Committee Charter is developed and adopted, the Committee should conform to it.
II. The article below further addresses this topic:
complianceonline.com/cms/cms/offline/ExternalLink.html?externalLink=/Offline/RegulatoryBodies/SEC/RegulatoryBodies0L13_445
III. Dlet SOX - Small Company Guidance
It might be helpful to perform an online research for the current proposal for SOX Requirements for Smaller Issuers. I believe the PCAOB has posted a proposal for feedback and the results of which should provide additional guidance for small companies.
Hope this helps,
Milan