Just days after new US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson came out swinging, dropping the giant hint that it was time to unwind Sarbanes-Oxley, Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Christopher Cox has made it clear that it ain't happening.

In his speech, Paulson said the pendulum had swung too far. But in an interview with Financial Times, the SEC supremo said the law is "entirely benign and reasonable on its face".

Sure, implementation of Section 404 has cost too much but he reckons that's because "in more than a few cases been focused on the capillary rather than the jugular."

Huh?? I'm still trying to work that one out. OK, Cox needs to work a bit on his metaphors but still, the message is clear: if Paulson thinks there will be a rollback, he's dreaming. Cox says the law just needs a bit of fixing, but apart from that, it's working just fine.

Earlier this week, I said Paulson didn't have the authority to unwind Sarbanes-Oxley - Cox is the one with the power here - but I raised the question of whether this signalled a change in the Bush administration's attitude to Sarbanes-Oxley.

The CFO.com blog suggests, under the headline Sarbox Rollback: Paulson v. Cox? that it's more a case of the administration talking out of both sides of its mouth. It suggests the new Treasury Secretary is just trying to weave a cover for the Republicans to show that they are absolutely pro-business.