The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed extending some of the Sarbanes-Oxley compliance deadlines as they apply to non-accelerated filers – smaller public companies and many foreign private issuers. In the latest relief announcement for these groups, the SEC has pushed the deadline for providing a management report from July 15, 2007, to Dec. 15, 2007. In addition, the agency is proposing to delay of a requirement to provide an auditor’s attestation report on internal controls in annual reports until the first annual report for a fiscal year ending on or after Dec. 15, 2008. The changes – intended “to provide cost savings and efficiency opportunities” for this group, says the commission –would affect 44% of domestic companies and 38% of foreign private issues that file reports. Foreign private issuers that are accelerated filers would also get a break, with a one-year delay in the auditor-attestation report requirement. The SEC is also proposing a transition period for newly public companies “in recognition of the fact that preparation of a newly public company’s first annual report can be a time and resource intensive process that may quickly follow an IPO or initial listing.”