- Chief Compliance Officer and VP of Legal Affairs, Arrow Electronics
By 
Adrianne Appel2023-09-29T21:45:00
Accounting firm Prager Metis violated auditor independence rules hundreds of times during a period of nearly three years, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged.
The agency filed its lawsuit Friday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The complaint seeks a permanent injunction, disgorgement, and a penalty against Prager.
Between December 2017 and October 2020, Prager included indemnification provisions in its engagement letters for more than 200 audits, reviews, and exams, which meant the firm was not independent from its clients as required by the SEC, the agency said in its complaint.
THIS IS MEMBERS-ONLY CONTENT. To continue reading, choose one of the options below.
News and analysis for the well-informed compliance or audit exec. Select an option and click continue.
Annual Membership $499 Value offer
Full price one year membership with auto-renewal.
Membership $599
One-year only, no auto-renewal.
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.
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and Securities and Exchange Commission have emphasized in public statements auditor independence is a critical enforcement area, prompting the need for firms to reacquaint themselves with each agency’s requirements.
A former engagement quality review partner at Marcum agreed to pay a $30,000 penalty and be suspended as part of a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission addressing alleged violations of audit standards in his work at diversified holding company Ault Alliance.
A bank examiner and senior manager at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond pled guilty to insider trading after allegedly misappropriating confidential information on seven banks to make profitable trades.
New York-based investment firm Drexel Hamilton will pay more than $1.1 million in penalties, with four current and former employees paying fines as well over committing hundreds of violations of rules regarding the sale of municipal bonds.
A publicly traded cryptocurrency mining company will pay $10 million and completely change its business model to one with “lower corruption risk” as part of a settlement over violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), two regulators announced.
