- Chief Compliance Officer and VP of Legal Affairs, Arrow Electronics
By 
Maria L. Murphy2023-10-03T14:21:00
Firms’ continued struggles regarding compliance with auditor independence requirements have drawn the unwelcome attention of U.S. regulators.
Both the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have emphasized in public statements the topic is a critical enforcement area.
Below is a refresher on some of the principal independence requirements for auditors and current areas of regulator emphasis.
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Audit firms should carefully weigh the pros and cons of indemnity clauses in light of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent complaint against Prager Metis, according to a legal expert.
Accounting firm Prager Metis violated auditor independence rules through use of indemnification provisions in its engagement letters hundreds of times during a period of nearly three years, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged in a lawsuit.
Accounting firm Warren Averett agreed to pay a penalty of $200,000 in resolving the first case brought by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board regarding auditor independence violations related to a firm’s membership in an accounting alliance.
Chinese authorities banned PwC’s Chinese unit from performing audits in the country for six months, labeling the subsidiary’s flawed audit work as complicit in the failure of giant property developer Evergrande.
Erica Williams was reappointed to a second term as chair of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board after an ambitious first three years in the role that have seen the agency work to update many of its standards deemed outdated.
Software company Autodesk said it won’t restate several years of financial statements following an audit committee investigation into potential accounting misconduct.
