SOX spending remains steady.

• Author: Swartz, Nikki
• Position: UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis - Sarbanes-Oxley Act - Brief article

AMR Research's annual report found that companies will spend $6 billion on Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance in 2007--the same amount that firms spent in 2006 and 2005.

The report also revealed that companies will spend almost $30 billion on governance, risk management, and compliance (GRC) this year, up 8.5 percent from 2006 budgets. John Hagerty, AMR Research vice president and research fellow, said in a press release that the GRC budget increases show that these efforts are not a trend, but a systemic change in the way companies are now managing, monitoring, and controlling their business activities.

AMR said SOX spending accounts for just 20 percent of overall GRC spending. By 2008, AMR found, companies will have cumulatively spent $32.3 billion on SOX.

"Surprisingly, companies...