- Chief Compliance Officer and VP of Legal Affairs, Arrow Electronics
By 
Kyle Brasseur2023-09-19T18:53:00
Rule amendments proposed by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) on Tuesday would enable the agency to penalize individual auditors more easily when their conduct is deemed to have contributed to violations by their firms.
The changes to PCAOB Rule 3502, “Responsibility Not to Knowingly or Recklessly Contribute to Violations,” won’t affect auditors who are already doing what they should be doing, warned PCAOB Chair Erica Williams in a statement. Requirements are already in place from the PCAOB and Securities and Exchange Commission for auditors to exercise reasonable care when they perform an audit.
But the proposal would make important clarifications to the PCAOB rule, including by updating the threshold for liability from “recklessness” to “negligence.” Individuals would still need to be found to have contributed to the firm’s violation both “directly and substantially” to be held liable, the agency noted.
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