The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved an 11.4-percent budget increase for the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, mainly to beef up staffing for inspections and oversight of broker-dealer audits.

As a result of the increase, public companies will pay a 2012 support fee of $196.8 million, divided among them according to their market capitalization. Broker-dealers will divvy up a $18.2 million support fee based on their net capital. The PCAOB needs the increase to add about 100 new staff members, said Chairman James Doty, to oversee broker-dealer audits as a result of the Dodd-Frank Act and to expand inspections personnel as the board increases its access to overseas audit firms to carry out inspections.

In approving the 2012 budget unanimously during an open meeting, the SEC generally praised the work of the PCAOB but related some growing concern over lingering problems with international inspections and the board's information technology systems. While the PCAOB has made progress in striking agreements with its regulatory counterparts in numerous countries to perform inspections of firms that are doing U.S. audit work, it still has not gained access to some major jurisdictions, including China and several major European countries, including Germany.

“It's been extremely helpful to have had agreements in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan,” Doty told the SEC during its open meeting to consider and approve the budget. “We are establishing a presence in the Pacific Rim, which has direct implications for the big hole that you are concerned about and that many of us are concerned about,” referring to China, Doty said.

Commissioner Luis Aguilar acknowledged the board has been working to remove legal obstacles to inspections in those countries. “My only concern is it can't go on ad infinitum,” Aguilar told Doty. “I'm glad to hear you are making progress, but we have to put American investors first.” Doty replied: “We've tried to indicate we do not have unlimited time.”

The SEC also held the PCAOB's feet to the fire over the effectiveness of its IT governance issues. The board has encountered numerous challenges and delays in getting its systems in place to gather and manage the data it collects on audit firms. Doty said the board has hired a new chief administrative officer to take charge of the IT function and has adopted a new IT governance framework and enterprise structure to improve the effectiveness of its IT systems.