Will Foreign Sarbanes-Oxley Deadline Bring Backlash?

Forrester Research's "Navigating the European Compliance Jungle" reports on a survey of 20 IT vendors and 20 customer companies regarding the complex regulatory regimes with which businesses in EU member states must comply.

Surprisingly, half of those responding said that compliance processes proved beneficial for their businesses in spite of the insane amounts of paperwork and the huge costs that come with those processes.

However, since requirements for Sarbanes-Oxley -- for which the compliance deadline for foreign firms looms close -- and the also forthcoming MiFID, are among the most complex that European firms must address, very few expect the paperwork or the costs to decrease.

Some are predicting a regulatory backlash, but the silicon.com story we read doesn't indicate what form that will take. If it's anything like what's been happening in the U.S. and elsewhere as a result of Sarbox, it may be that even fewer companies will be listing on U.S. exchanges and there will be continued calls for modification, explanation and revision.