Government and Business Environment Case Study

Case Title:

Sarbanes Oxley and the Travails of being a Small Cap Public Company

Abstract:
According to a survey of 32 mid-sized companies, conducted by law firm Foley & Lardner, the average cost of being a public company with annual revenues under $1 billion increased by 130%. The fallout of corporate scandals had seen a rash of legislations including the Sarbanes Oxley Act and the new Securities and Exchange Commission rules. The costs of going and staying public increased. An analyst commented that many entrepreneurs no longer even dreamt of going public because they saw the hassles outweighing the potential benefits.

Pedagogical Objectives:

• To discuss the costs of going public and the travails of staying as a public company
• To discuss the possible and viable measures to reduce the cost of going public and staying public, for small companies .

Keywords :  Sarbanes Oxley Act, Initial public offerings, Government and Business Environment Case Study, Webhire, Gristede's Foods Inc, Business Environment Case Study, Corporate governance, Costs of going public, Regulation 14D tender offer, Dutch auction system, Small cap companies, Public to private, Profit maximisation, Leveraged buyouts, Employee stock option plan, Productivity, Financial audit