A congressional conference committee working on financial regulatory reform backed a House provision to give a permanent exemption for small companies from complying with Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404(b). The SEC and GAO were ordered to study the compliance costs for companies with public floats ranging from $75 million to $250 million.

Auditors and investors lost the battle to get small public companies to comply with Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The decision by lawmakers gives a permanent exemption to public companies with public floats of less than $75 million from complying with Section 404(b).

To better understand permanent exemption from SOX Section 404(b), please contact of REDW’s Audit and Consulting team.

WG&L Accounting & Compliance Alert Network states while most of the financial reform legislation coming out of Washington is aimed at the financial services sector, the chief of the SEC, George Canellos, wants corporate controllers and CFOs to use caution in everything they do, from applying GAAP to talking to the Street. In an era of reform, the caution is more necessary than ever.

Canellos said the SEC is sensitive to the challenges that corporate controllers and CFOs have to face. Citing the pending insider trading case against the hedge fund, Galleon Group, Canellos advised financial professionals to be “very cautious in dealing with analysts and institutional investors.”

Canellos discussed some trends he has seen over the last few years, since the scandals caused by Enron in 2001 and Worldcom in 2002 and the subsequent enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

For assistance in understanding trends discussed by George Canellos, please contact of REDW’s Audit and Consulting team.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the United States Department of Agriculture has selected a 27 projects to receive grants to help fund rural businesses, start new businesses, save and create jobs, and train workers in Native American communities in 12 states.

“Focus will be placed on technical assistance for private business entities in the form of credit building and repair through a credit-counseling course.” A business plan development course will also be offered for small business owners and local merchants.

$3.4 million in announced grants is administered through USDA Rural Development’s Rural Business Enterprise Grant program.

For more information about these economic opportunities for your tribal entity, please contact REDW Tribal Services team members and .

Landmark healthcare reform is now the law of the land. According to the Healthcare Financial Management Association, a hospital financial leader’s number one challenge is to become knowledgeable about the legislation and its likely impact on a hospital’s bottom line. Some provisions in the legislation will be good for providers, others will have a negative impact. Ratings agencies think the long-term impact will be neutral to negative.

Ways in which this healthcare reform can possibly prove beneficial to hospitals would be through changes to insurance markets, malpractice reform demonstrations and funding to help hospitals with high volumes of preventable readmissions. On the other hand, hospitals will be affected by scheduled payment cuts and the employer “free rider” penalty.

More details about the positive and negative aspects of the healthcare reform are outlined on the HFMA website.

For more information about how the reform legislation will impact your healthcare organization, please contact REDW Healthcare Services team members or .

The New Mexico Education Trust Board, the Attorney General of New Mexico and OppenheimerFunds, Inc., have reached an agreement to resolve the state’s investigation into OppenheimerFunds’ management of New Mexico’s 529 college savings programs, The Education Plan and Scholar’s Edge.

OppenheimerFunds has agreed to pay to the Education Trust Board more than $67.3 million, which the Board intends to distribute to eligible Education Plan and Scholar’s Edge participants who invested in portfolios with exposure to the Oppenheimer Core Bond Fund.

An independent settlement administrator on behalf of the Board and OppenheimerFunds will manage settlement payments.

If you would like more information about the settlement or how to file a claim to receive your share of the settlement, please contact of REDW’s Settlement Administration Services team.