SEC Eases Enron-Era Audit Requirements for Smaller Companies (1)

Small public companies won’t have to meet the same stringent audit requirements as larger filers, under updated rules the SEC approved Thursday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted 3-1 to finalize a plan to exempt companies with less than $100 million in annual revenue from SEC internal control audit requirements. The changes would update accelerated filer and large accelerated filer classifications that determine filing deadlines and other requirements for public companies.

Proponents of the plan included small banks and pharmaceutical and bio-tech companies, which said the current requirements were costly, overly burdensome and weren’t meaningful to their investors.

The audit ...