Sarbanes-Oxley expenditure represents less than 25 cents out of every dollar spent on compliance, according to AMR Research. Areas like Security and Exchange Commission requirements, document retention, manufacturing and and supply chain traceability are all part of the mix.

Don't expect that's going to stop the push by US businesses to roll back Sarbanes-Oxley.

The US Chamber of Commerce has now come out warning regulators about bringing losing cases against business. Costs are only part of the story. The real issue is that businesses hate regulators breathing down their necks and telling them how to run their show. Which is why claims that Sarbanes-Oxley represents just a fraction of compliance costs won't wash with business.

But as James Surowiecki pointed out in a good piece last year, the costs are a lot more without the enforcements.