Companies with a market capitalization of less than $700 million (euro527 million) will qualify for temporary relief from internal-controls reporting, the SEC said.

However, all other information required in annual reports, including audited financial statements, must be filed on the original due date, the SEC added.

Congress required stricter scrutiny of internal controls as part of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The law calls for managers at public company to conduct an annual assessment of their internal controls over financial reporting, subject to further review by the independent auditor.

Internal-controls reporting requirements took effect for companies with a market capitalization of $75 million (euro56 million) or more starting Nov. 15.

Results from about 4,000 of these so-called "accelerated filers" were to be included in corporate annual reports, typically due 75 days after year's end.

The additional 45-day extension applies to filers with fiscal years that end between Nov. 15, 2004 and Feb. 28, 2005, that had a market capitalization of less than $700 million (euro527 million) at the end of the company's second fiscal quarter in 2004.

Corporate financial reports will be deemed to be closed when they are filed with the SEC, even when companies have yet to supply their internal-controls review, SEC officials said. The review can be filed later.

SEC corporation finance division director Alan Beller called the extension "an appropriate step" to help companies that are struggling to complete the assessments.

He estimates more than 2,000 companies will benefit from the 45-day extension adopted by the SEC as an emergency order.

-- Judith Burns