February 27, 2005
Our bank holding company and our board of directors are very disappointed in the Sarbanes Oxley Act's and the PCAOB's (1) total disregard for the banking industry's existing federal regulation for safety and soundness, and (2) unwillingness to provide direction to accounting firms dealing with small (in market cap, # of employees, revenues, etc.) public companies.
As to #1 - we are a one bank (national) holding company and are regulated by the Federal Reserve, the OCC (Treasury Dept) and the FDIC. SOX is overkill.
As to #2 - Our company has a market cap of about $20 million and the bank has 40 full and part-time employees. SOX is an unnecssary and extremely costly (hard and soft costs) burden.
Consequently, we hope to go private in the best interests of our shareholders.
Dennis Burnette
President
Cherokee Banking Company (CHKJ, Bulletin Board) Canton, GA