See Credit Details Below
Overview
Over twenty years ago, on July 30, 2002, after passing the U.S. Senate on a 97-0 vote, the historic Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“SOX” or “the Act”) was signed into law. Over the following months and years, the wide-ranging provisions of the Act and the resulting regulations dramatically affected auditors, public companies, their advisors and regulators. This Briefing, the first in a series of three, will focus on the Act’s provisions affecting auditors and their clients. Topics will include the formation of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and its regulation of auditors and the audit process. Discussion will address the initial and on-going impact of these provisions, and how they will influence the evolution of accounting and auditing requirements. Please join Gary M. Brown of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, Julie Bell Lindsay from the Center for Audit Quality, and SEC Institute Directors Bob Laux and George M. Wilson for this Sarbanes-Oxley retrospective.
In this Briefing faculty will:
- Overview the catalysts for SOX – 2 minutes
- Discuss accounting related investigative revelations and events leading up to SOX’s passage – 5 minutes
- Outline the accounting related groups under scrutiny and the principal objectives of SOX – 3 minutes
- Discuss the rationale for the auditor and audit process provisions in the Act – 5 minutes
- Overview the PCAOB and its regulation of the accounting profession, including: - 10 minutes
- Creation of the PCAOB – an independent, not-for-profit organization
- SEC oversight
- Budget and funding of the Board
- Composition of the Board
- Appointment of Board members
- Registration
- Auditing standards
- Inspection
- Enforcement
- Establishment of the ICFR auditing standard
- Review the Act’s requirements for the audit process, including: – 10 minutes
- Auditor independence provisions
- Report directly to the audit committee
- Pre-approval of all services
- Require second partner review
- Retain work papers for seven years
- Prohibited services – Section 201
- Partner rotation
- Audit committee communications
- Summarize current developments with audit firm quality control systems, consulting practices and related matters – 10 minutes
- Assess the impact of auditor and audit process provisions on public companies and their advisors – 8 minutes
- Discuss the influence of the Act on the direction of new auditor, audit process and quality control requirements – 7 minutes
You may also want to listen to our related Sox Turns 20 One-Hour Briefings:
SOX Turns 20: Changes in Governance and Disclosure and a Look Forward
SOX Turns 20: Securities Markets and Related Provisions and a Look Forward