PCAOB Members Steven Harris and Jay Hanson Reappointed

The Securities and Exchange Commission has reappointed Public Company Accounting Oversight Board members Steven B. Harris and Jay D. Hanson for five-year terms.

Harris has been reappointed to a second term ending Oct. 24, 2017, and Hanson has been reappointed to a second term ending Oct. 24, 2018.

The PCAOB, established by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, oversees the audits of the financial statements of public companies and broker-dealers through registration, standard setting, inspection, and disciplinary programs. The Commission selects members and the chair of the PCAOB after consultation with the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve Board.

“I’m pleased to join my fellow commissioners in reappointing Steve and Jay to serve as PCAOB board members, and I look forward to their continued service in a second term,” SEC chair Elisse B. Walter said in a statement Friday. “Steve has provided important institutional continuity as the longest-serving board member who played a key role in helping to shape the law that created the PCAOB. Jay’s depth of expertise in auditing issues from his more than 30 years of prior private practice already has been an invaluable contribution to the board’s efforts.”

SEC chief accountant Paul Beswick added, “The board has a number of important initiatives underway as it embarks on its second decade of overseeing auditors of companies subject to the securities laws. We are very pleased to be able to continue to work with Steve, Jay, and the rest of the board on these initiatives.”

[IMGCAP(1)]Harris was appointed to the PCAOB in 2008. He was previously senior vice president and Special Counsel for APCO Worldwide, where he advised clients on matters relating to financial transactions, corporate governance, crisis management, investigations, foreign investment, trade promotion, and government affairs. For more than 15 years, Harris served as a staff director and chief counsel of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. He also served as a staff director and chief counsel to the Securities Subcommittee. He worked on all of the legislation, investigations, and oversight conducted by the committee from 1981 to 2007.

Harris was a counsel to Senator Donald W. Riegle, Jr. from 1979 to 1981, and served as a counsel to Congresswoman Barbara Jordan and as a representative to the National Commission for the Review of Antitrust Laws and Procedures from 1978 to 1979. He graduated with honors from Dartmouth College and earned an LL.B. from George Washington University.

[IMGCAP(2)]Hanson was appointed to the PCAOB in 2011. He previously spent nearly 32 years at McGladrey & Pullen LLP, where he worked with a variety of clients ranging from small nonprofit organizations to large multi-national public companies. Hanson served as the National Director of Accounting, overseeing the firm’s accounting guidance and training practices, as well as leader of the firm’s Accounting Standards Group. He served as a member of the Emerging Issues Task Force of the Financial Accounting Standards Board from 2006 to 2011. He also was a member of the Financial Reporting Executive Committee of the American Institute of CPAs from 2005 to 2011, serving as chairman for the final three years of his tenure. Hanson is a certified public accountant licensed to practice in his home state of Minnesota. He graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., with a B.A. in Business Administration, Accounting and Mathematics.

Separately, the PCAOB announced the members of its Investor Advisory Group on Friday. The members will serve three-year terms ending in October 2015. They include:

•    Brandon Becker, executive vice president and chief legal officer, TIAA-CREF
•    Robert T. Buettner, managing director, Newbrook Capital Advisors
•    Mercer E. Bullard, associate professor of law and Jessie D. Puckett, Jr., professor, University of Mississippi School of Law; vice president, Plancorp, LLC; founder and president, Fund Democracy, Inc.
•    Curtis L. Buser, managing director and chief accounting officer, The Carlyle Group
•    T. Grant Callery, former executive vice president and general counsel, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority
•    Joseph V. Carcello, Ernst & Young professor, Department of Accounting and Information Management, and co-founder and director of research, Corporate Governance Center, University of Tennessee
•    Norman J. Harrison, senior managing director, FTI Consulting, Inc.
•    Michael J. Head, managing director of corporate audit, TD AMERITRADE Holding Corporation
•    W. Howard Morris, president and chief investment officer, The Prairie & Tireman Group
•    Peter H. Nachtwey, chief financial officer, Legg Mason, Inc.
•    Barbara L. Roper, director of investor protection, Consumer Federation of America
•    Lawrence M. Shover, chief investment officer, Solutions Funds Group
•    Damon A. Silvers, director of policy and special counsel, AFL-CIO
•    Anne Simpson, senior portfolio manager, investments and director of corporate governance, California Public Employees' Retirement System
•    Tony Sondhi, president, A.C. Sondhi & Associates, LLC
•    Judge Stanley Sporkin, U.S. District Court (retired)
•    Robert M. Tarola, president, Right Advisory LLC
•    Lynn E. Turner, managing director, LitiNomics
•    Gary G. Walsh, principal and portfolio manager, Luther King Capital Management
•    Ann L. Yerger, executive director, Council of Institutional Investors

 

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