TheCorporateCounsel.net

October 8, 2003

11-Ks and 906 Certs –

At the Annual ACCA Conference, I just came off a panel with Paula Dubberly, Corp Fin’s Associate Director – Legal, who announced that she (and other members of the staff) just completed discussions with the Department of Justice – as well as members of the President’s Corporate Fraud Task Force – and they have jointly concluded that Section 906 of Sarbanes-Oxley does not apply to 8-Ks, 6-Ks and 11-Ks.

Of course, this would have been more welcome news back in June when most plans were filing their 11-Ks – but Senator Biden’s unexpected remarks on the topics put considerable pressure on the SEC staff to not take a position at that time. So those plans that filed the 906 certification in June seemingly are stuck with a cert in that filing – but can rest easy with the knowledge that the DOJ doesn’t believe that 906 applies. And don’t file the 906 cert next year…