American Express has announced it will end its 30-year relationship with its independent auditor Ernst & Young LLP next year, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Wracked with debt and forced to sell off property to pay its employees, California's King City has filed suit against its former auditor, Moss, Levy & Hartzheim of Santa Maria, the Monterey Herald reported.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday issued an exemptive order to grant certain accelerated filers up to an additional 45-days to include in their annual reports management’s report on internal control over financial reporting and the related auditor’s report on management’s assessment of internal control over financial reporting. Both internal control reports are required under Commission rules implementing Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board on Tuesday adopted a temporary transitional rule relating to PCAOB Auditing Standard No. 2, "An Audit of Internal Control over Financial Reporting Performed in Conjunction with an Audit of Financial Statements." Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the related implementing rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission require certain companies to include in their annual reports filed with the Commission a report on management’s assessment of the effectiveness of those companies’ internal control over financial reporting.

As public companies strive to meet compliance deadlines for Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, trends related to how companies will implement an efficient and effective process beyond the initial year of compliance are beginning to emerge, according to the results of a new survey released by Ernst & Young.

Eighty percent of U.S. workers and 76 percent of employed investors have never heard of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, according to a Hudson survey measuring its impact in the workplace. As the first compliance deadline approaches in December, only nine percent of workers say they have been asked to do something differently in their jobs as a result of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Among working investors, defined as owning at least $5,000 in stocks, bonds and mutual funds, only seven percent indicated that Sarbanes-Oxley had increased their confidence as an investor.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) this week released the third in a series of staff questions and answers to assist in the implementation of PCAOB Auditing Standard No. 2, regarding audits of public companies' internal control over financial reporting. The questions and answers, prepared by the PCAOB’s Office of the Chief Auditor, emphasize the flexibility provided by Auditing Standard No.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued a release adopting amendments to postpone, for one year, the final phase-in period for acceleration of periodic report deadlines that apply to larger companies known as "accelerated filers." The primary purpose of the postponement is to allow additional time and opportunity for accelerated filers and their auditors to focus their efforts on complying with new requirements regarding internal control over financial reporting that were mandated by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

Section 404. Just the words are enough to add to the collective stress level of corporate America, as executives scramble to clear the next hurdle brought about by sweeping reforms. Dow Jones Newswires reported last week that some smaller companies may get an extension on filing internal control documentation-showing they have effective controls in place and have had the controls attested to by an independent auditor.