The Public Accounting Oversight Board, or PCAOB, agreed to establish an interim inspection program for auditors of broker dealers, as it considers the scope and form of a permanent program for investor protection while minimizing burdens on smaller auditors.
The board gained inspection, standard-setting and enforcement authority over auditors of registered securities brokers and dealers under the Dodd-Frank financial-overhaul law, adding another level of oversight. It intends to have a permanent program in place by 2013.
Under the temporary program, the board will begin to inspect auditors of brokers and dealers and address with the firms any significant issues in those audits. The program won’t include firm-specific inspection reports, but rather will periodically publish reports on the types of investor risk it encounters. However, PCAOB Chairman James R. Doty said that, if violations are found, the board will act on them.
The interim program will be used to determine whether the permanent one should apply to all brokerage-firm audits. There are about 5,000 broker-dealers that provide a diverse range of services, raising questions about whether some types can be excluding without comprising investor protection, according to board member Daniel L. Goelzer.
Doty said that, as a result of the interim effort, the board may be able to “narrow the scope and cost of the law to focus on areas where our oversight would make a difference.”
The group also amended some of its funding rules.
-By Tess Stynes, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2481; Tess.Stynes@dowjones.com
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