TITLE I - PUBLIC COMPANY ACCOUNTING OVERSIGHT BOARD
SEC. 109. FUNDING.
(a) IN GENERAL. - The Board, and the standard setting body designated pursuant
to section 19(b) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended by section 108, shall
be funded as provided in this section.
(b) ANNUAL BUDGETS. - The Board and the standard setting body referred to in
subsection (a) shall each establish a budget for each fiscal year, which shall
be reviewed and approved according to their respective internal procedures not
less than 1 month prior to the commencement of the fiscal year to which the
budget pertains (or at the beginning of the Board’s first fiscal year,
which may be a short fiscal year). The budget of the Board shall be subject
to approval by the Commission. The budget for the first fiscal year of the Board
shall be prepared and approved promptly following the appointment of the initial
five Board members, to permit action by the Board of the organizational tasks
contemplated by section 101(d).
(c) SOURCES AND USES OF FUNDS. -
(1) RECOVERABLE BUDGET EXPENSES. - The budget of the Board
(reduced by any registration or annual fees received under section 102(e) for
the year preceding the year for which the budget is being computed), and all
of the budget of the standard setting body referred to in subsection (a), for
each fiscal year of each of those 2 entities, shall be payable from annual accounting
support fees, in accordance with subsections (d) and (e). Accounting support
fees and other receipts of the Board and of such standard-setting body shall
not be considered public monies of the United States.
(2) FUNDS GENERATED FROM THE COLLECTION OF MONETARY PENALTIES.
- Subject to the availability in advance in an appropriations Act, and notwithstanding
subsection (i), all funds collected by the Board as a result of the assessment
of monetary penalties shall be used to fund a merit scholarship program for
undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in accredited accounting degree
programs, which program is to be administered by the Board or by an entity or
agent identified by the Board.
(d) ANNUAL ACCOUNTING SUPPORT FEE FOR THE BOARD. -
(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF FEE. - The Board shall establish, with
the approval of the Commission, a reasonable annual accounting support fee (or
a formula for the computation thereof), as may be necessary or appropriate to
establish and maintain the Board. Such fee may also cover costs incurred in
the Board’s first fiscal year (which may be a short fiscal year), or may
be levied separately with respect to such short fiscal year.
(2) ASSESSMENTS. - The rules of the Board under paragraph
(1) shall provide for the equitable allocation, assessment, and collection by
the Board (or an agent appointed by the Board) of the fee established under
paragraph (1), among issuers, in accordance with subsection (g), allowing for
differentiation among classes of issuers, as appropriate.
(e) ANNUAL ACCOUNTING SUPPORT FEE FOR STANDARD SETTING BODY. - The annual accounting
support fee for the standard setting body referred to in subsection (a) -
(1) shall be allocated in accordance with subsection (g),
and assessed and collected against each issuer, on behalf of the standard setting
body, by 1 or more appropriate designated collection agents, as may be necessary
or appropriate to pay for the budget and provide for the expenses of that standard
setting body, and to provide for an independent, stable source of funding for
such body, subject to review by the Commission; and
(2) may differentiate among different classes of issuers.
(f) LIMITATION ON FEE. - The amount of fees collected under this section for
a fiscal year on behalf of the Board or the standards setting body, as the case
may be, shall not exceed the recoverable budget expenses of the Board or body,
respectively (which may include operating, capital, and accrued items), referred
to in subsection (c)(1).
(g) ALLOCATION OF ACCOUNTING SUPPORT FEES AMONG ISSUERS. - Any amount due from
issuers (or a particular class of issuers) under this section to fund the budget
of the Board or the standard setting body referred to in subsection (a) shall
be allocated among and payable by each issuer (or each issuer in a particular
class, as applicable) in an amount equal to the total of such amount, multiplied
by a fraction -
(1) the numerator of which is the average monthly equity market
capitalization of the issuer for the 12-month period immediately preceding the
beginning of the fiscal year to which such budget relates; and
(2) the denominator of which is the average monthly equity
market capitalization of all such issuers for such 12-month period.
(h) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. - Section 13(b)(2) of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m(b)(2)) is amended -
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking "and" at the
end; and
(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at the end
and inserting the following: "; and
"(C) notwithstanding any other provision of law, pay
the allocable share of such issuer of a reasonable annual accounting support
fee or fees, determined in accordance with section 109 of the Sarbanes-Oxley
Act of 2002.".
(i) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. - Nothing in this section shall be construed to render
either the Board, the standard setting body referred to in subsection (a), or
both, subject to procedures in Congress to authorize or appropriate public funds,
or to prevent such organization from utilizing additional sources of revenue
for its activities, such as earnings from publication sales, provided that each
additional source of revenue shall not jeopardize, in the judgment of the Commission,
the actual and perceived independence of such organization.
(j) START-UP EXPENSES OF THE BOARD. - From the unexpended balances of the appropriations
to the Commission for fiscal year 2003, the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized
to advance to the Board not to exceed the amount necessary to cover the expenses
of the Board during its first fiscal year(which may be a short fiscal year).
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