COMPETE Act
Latest action · May 17, 2006 Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMay 17, 2006
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Competitive and Open Markets that Protect and Enhance the Treatment of Entrepreneurs Act, or the COMPETE Act - Amends the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 regarding the management assessment of internal controls in the annual report of each issuer of registered securities to require certain rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to permit a small public company to elect voluntarily not to provide in its annual report an assessment of (or a related public accounting firm attestation concerning) the effectiveness of its internal control structure and financial reporting procedures, if it meets specified size criteria. Includes among such criteria: (1) total market capitalization of less than $700 million; (2) total product revenue of less than $125 million; and (3) fewer than 1500 record beneficial holders.
Requires SEC rules to provide for random audits after the first year for which an attestation and report of such a small public company is made by a registered public accounting firm.
Directs the SEC and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (Board) to: (1) alter the standard for review from a remote likelihood standard for noting weaknesses to a 5% de minimus material weakness criterion (based on 5% of net profits); (2) establish specific guidelines for measuring certain terms; and (3) modify independence rules to allow prudent interaction between registered public accounting firms performing such assessments and internal consultants.
Directs the SEC and the Board to: (1) jointly study and report to Congress on the principles-based Turnbull Guidance under the securities laws of the United Kingdom; and (2) compare and contrast such principles to the implementation of Sarbanes-Oxley requirements.
Cosponsors 25
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from May 17, 2006 to Jul 19, 2006; 13 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-MI | Candice S. Miller | Original | May 17, 2006 |
| R-FL | Cliff Stearns | Original | May 17, 2006 |
| R-CA | Edward R. Royce | Original | May 17, 2006 |
| D-NY | Gregory W. Meeks | Original | May 17, 2006 |
| R-TX | Jeb Hensarling | Original | May 17, 2006 |
| R-AZ | Jeff Flake | Original | May 17, 2006 |
| R-IN | Mike Pence | Original | May 17, 2006 |
| R-TX | Pete Sessions | Original | May 17, 2006 |
| R-MS | Roger F. Wicker | Original | May 17, 2006 |
| R-NJ | Scott Garrett | Original | May 17, 2006 |
| R-KS | Todd Tiahrt | Original | May 17, 2006 |
| R-NC | Virginia Foxx | Original | May 17, 2006 |
| R-NC | Walter B. Jones | Original | May 17, 2006 |
| R-GA | John Linder | May 24, 2006 | |
| R-NY | John R. "Randy" Kuhl Jr. | May 24, 2006 | |
| R-TX | Michael C. Burgess | May 24, 2006 | |
| R-KY | Geoff Davis | May 25, 2006 | |
| R-SC | J. Gresham Barrett | May 25, 2006 | |
| R-TN | Marsha Blackburn | May 25, 2006 | |
| R-AZ | Trent Franks | May 25, 2006 | |
| R-VA | Bob Goodlatte | Jun 7, 2006 | |
| R-IA | Steve King | Jun 7, 2006 | |
| R-AZ | John B. Shadegg | Jun 13, 2006 | |
| R-TX | Louie Gohmert | Jul 10, 2006 | |
| R-MI | Thaddeus G. McCotter | Jul 19, 2006 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Financial Services Committee | Referred May 17, 2006 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- May 17, 2006Introduced in House
- May 17, 2006Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Printed hearings 1
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serial No. 109-217 | A BALANCING ACT: COST, COMPLIANCE, AND COMPETITIVENESS AFTER SARBANES- OXLEY112 pages | Oversight and Government Reform Committee | Jun 19, 2006 |
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 2824 | COMPETE Act | Related bill | May 17, 2006 |
Titles 3
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To reduce the burdens of the implementation of section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Competitive and Open Markets that Protect and Enhance the Treatment of Entrepreneurs Act
- COMPETE Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector.
- Accounting
- Administrative procedure
- Auditing
- Commerce
- Congressional reporting requirements
- Consultants
- Corporate accountability
- Corporate finance
- Corporate management
- Europe
- Finance and Financial Sector
- Financial statements
- Government Operations and Politics
- Government paperwork
- Governmental investigations
- Independent regulatory commissions
- Information disclosure (Securities law)
- Law
- Securities and Exchange Commission
- Securities regulation
- Small business
- United Kingdom
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- May 17, 2006Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.