Park & Halpern

[Capt_Nemo]

March 17, 2004. (FinancialWire) The CEO Council has announced it has been invited by The National Small Public Company Leadership Council to participate in a private meeting with Members of the U.S. Congress and staff regarding Sarbanes-Oxley, as well as other issues impacting small emerging growth companies. The meeting will take place on April 1 and attendance is by private invitation only.
CEO Council members from CorpHQ Inc. (OTC: COHQ), Cybertel Communications Inc. (OTCBB: CYTP) and Circle Group Holdings Inc. (OTCBB: CRGQ) will also attend a series of meetings on Capitol Hill to discuss the Sarbanes-Oxley law and its impact on small public companies.
“Sarbanes-Oxley is a well intentioned law that needs to be ‘right-sized’ for small business issuers,” said Steve Crane, Director and Political Action Committee Chair of The CEO Council. “As it stands today, the yearly cost of SOX compliance is beyond the means of thousands of small public companies. If this law is allowed to stand, these companies will have no choice but to become unregulated entities or worse.”
Crane added, “While the intent of SOX is to better regulate issuers and to protect investors, the net effect will be to drive small issuers away from regulation which history has shown causes a profoundly negative impact to shareholder value. Small public companies are a vital part of the U.S. economy and we need regulations that both protect investors and enhance the capital formation process. It is for these reasons, among others, that we will submit our recommendations for amending Sarbanes-Oxley as it relates to small issuers.”
“This is the best opportunity yet to lobby the people that have the power to make positive changes in the regulatory environment for small public companies. Send me your comments so I can make sure that your voice is heard,” said Crane.
All Small Business Issuers and their investors and capital markets practitioners are urged to submit their comments and recommendations to The CEO Council, either by email to [e-mail] or at the Council website at www.ceocouncil.net .
Investrend Communications, Inc., is a founding member of the CEO Council.
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