“The Sarbanes-Oxley Act remains ‘fully operative as a law’ with these tenure restrictions excised.”
~ Chief Justice John Roberts, in the Supreme Court’s majority opinion.
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The PCAOB’s Date at the Supreme Court Has Finally Arrived
For those of you that don’t religiously follow the happenings over at the SCOTUS, we’ll remind you that oral arguments are being heard today in Free Enterprise Fund and Beckstead and Watts, LLP v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.
The issue before the court, according to SCOTUS Wiki:
Whether the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is ��������������������ration-of-powers principles – as the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is in turn overseen by the President – or contrary to the Appointments Clause of the Constitution, as the PCAOB members are appointed by the SEC.
An op-ed in today’s Wall St. Journal ignores the “legal hairsplitting” of the case and instead focuses primarily on the cost that companies have taken on implementing Section 404:
In 2003 the SEC estimated that the average company could do much of its internal controls work for $91,000 per year. In 2007, the commission acknowledged costs had gotten out of hand, particularly for smaller companies, and told the PCAOB to make the internal controls audits more cost-effective.
In 2008, the SEC’s Office of Economic Analysis launched a survey of public companies to judge the results, and it recently posted the findings on the SEC Web site, after collecting data from thousands of corporations.
Section 404 is still consuming more than $2.3 million each year in direct compliance costs at the average company. The SEC’s survey shows the long-term burden on small companies is more than seven times that imposed on large firms relative to their assets. Are the internal controls audits helpful? Among companies of all sizes, only 19% say that the benefits of Section 404 outweigh the costs. More respondents say that it has reduced the efficiency of their operations than say it has improved them. More say that Section 404 has negatively affected the timeliness of their financial reporting than say it has enhanced it.
Not surprisingly, The Journal (specifically James Freeman) is pulling for the Plaintiffs in this case without presenting any of the positive contributions of SOx. Ultimately, the nine justices will determine the fate of the PCAOB, which if found unconstitutional, could have wide repercussions on all the auditors out there. We just spent the better part of a decade getting this SOx stuff down, and now it’s possible that it could’ve been a giant waste of time. Makes you feel good, doesn’t it?
For those of you interested in this case further, you can hear the oral presentations via podcast, over at SCOTUS Blog.
We invite our legal friends with perspective on this case to share their insights and predictions on this case. Hell, even if you’re not a legal scholar, share your thoughts. And just for fun, take a stab on what you think the outcome of the case will be by voting in the poll below.
Whistleblowers Would Like the House Financial Services Committee to Have Speaks About the PCAOB
While all this talk has been going on about the uncertain future of the PCAOB, […]
Get to Know Your PCAOB Standing Advisory Group Members
The PCAOB managed to roll out some news at a time other than 4 pm on Friday, announcing new appointments and reappointments to their Standing Advisory Group.
All the major firms are represented as well as some regionals (BKD, EKS&H), academics, industry pros, and others. We haven’t had the pleasure of knowing any of these fine folks (minus Lynn Turner – probably the biggest pot-stirrer on the list) but we’ve got it on good authority that everyone can get audit wonky (e.g. broker dealer auditing, the audit report model, FASB changes affecting auditing). The ushe. So you can rest soundly knowing your audit rules are in good hands.
Standing rs
New Appointments
• Stephen J. Homza, Managing Director of Internal Audit, Legg Mason, Inc.
• Lisa Lindsley, Director of Capital Strategies, American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees
• William T. Platt, Deputy Managing Partner, Professional Practice, and Deputy Chief Quality Officer – Attest, Deloitte & Touche, LLP
• D. Scott Showalter, Professor of Practice, Department of Accounting, College of Management, North Carolina State University
•Dan M. Slack, Chief Executive Officer, Fire and Police Pension Association of ColoradoReappointments
• Joseph V. Carcello, Ernst & Young and Business Alumni Professor, Department of Accounting and Information Management, and Co-Founder and Director of Research, Corporate Governance Center, University of Tennessee
• James D. Cox, Brainerd Currie Professor of Law, School of Law, Duke University
• Elizabeth S. Gantnier, Director of Quality Control, Stegman & Company
• Arnold C. Hanish, Vice President of Finance, Chief Accounting Officer, Eli Lilly & Company
• Gail L. Hanson, Deputy Executive Director, State of Wisconsin Investment Board
• Jamie S. Miller, Vice President, Controller and Chief Accounting Officer, General Electric Company
• Steven B. Rafferty, Professional Practices Partner, BKD, LLP
•Samuel J. Ranzilla, Audit Partner and National Managing Partner, Audit Quality and Professional Practice, KPMG LLP
• Lynn E. Turner, Senior Advisor and Managing Director, LECGContinuing Members
• John L. (Arch) Archambault, Senior Partner, Professional Standards and Global Public Policy, Grant Thornton LLP
• Dennis R. Beresford, Ernst & Young Executive Professor of Accounting, Terry College of Business, The University of Georgia
• Neri Bukspan, Executive Managing Director, Chief Quality Officer, and Chief Accountant, Credit Market Services, Standard & Poor’s Financial Services, LLC
• Douglas R. Carmichael, Claire and Eli Mason Professor of Accountancy, Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College
• Margaret M. Foran, Chief Governance Officer, Vice President, and Corporate Secretary, Prudential Financial, Inc.
• Michael J. Gallagher, Assurance Partner and U.S. Assurance National Office Leader, PwC
• Gaylen R. Hansen, Audit Partner and Director of Accounting and Auditing Quality Assurance, Ehrhardt Keefe Steiner & Hottman PC
•Patricia Ann K. (Kiko) Harvey, Vice President, Corporate Audit and Enterprise Risk Management, Delta Air Lines
•Gary R. Kabureck, Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer, Xerox Corporation
•Anthony S. Kendall, Chief Executive Officer, Mitchell & Titus LLP
•Wayne A. Kolins, Partner and National Director of Assurance, BDO USA, LLP; Global Head of Audit and Accounting, BDO International Limited
•Jeffrey P. Mahoney, General Counsel, Council of Institutional Investors
•Mary Hartman Morris, Investment Officer, Global Equity, California Public Employees’ Retirement System
•Kevin B. Reilly, Americas Vice Chair, Professional Practice and Risk Management, Ernst & Young LLP
•Barbara L. Roper, Director of Investor Protection, Consumer Federation of America
•Lawrence J. Salva, Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer and Controller, Comcast Corporation
•Kurt N. Schacht, Managing Director, CFA Institute
•Damon A. Silvers, Director of Policy and Special Counsel, AFL-CIO
•John W. White, Partner, Corporate Department, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP
If you’re completely raptured with anyone listed, you can check out there bios over at the PCAOB’s website.