The Securities and Exchange Commission, the US regulator, is to hold talks that could result in some of the most controversial aspects of the Sarbanes-Oxley act for corporate accountability being scrapped or modified.

William Donaldson, chairman of the SEC, said in a statement the agency will host a roundtable discussion to "evaluate the implementation" of one part of the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation, section 404, and said the agency would consider changing some aspects.