Interesting data coming out suggests that Sarbanes-Oxley is unlikely to be overhauled. That's despite the jury still out on its effectiveness.

But a study released last week by Protiviti has found that companies are now refocusing their emphasis in the post-SOX era, returning to more traditional audit functions like business continuity, over and above the traditional SOX compliance functions.What that suggests of course is that five years on, businesses and auditors have now become used to it and have adjusted accordingly. In other words, companies are now better placed to focus on critical business operations, not just financial reporting.

This partly goes to explain why lawmakers are unlikely to change Sarbanes-Oxley. There simply isn't a demand to change. What makes it even less likely is that the US economy is struggling with subprime issues, a shrinking dollar and oil escalating to $100 a barrel.

"It just doesn't play well politically. I don't see it as a top priority [for Congress] when you've got a war, health care costs, subprime problems," Mark Heesen, president of the National Venture Capital Association, told politico.com.

Still, that's unlikely to stop people complaining about it. It's just that in the current political and economic climate, things are unlikely to change.