Audit & Accounting

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's report on the auditing profession is equal parts suggestions for legislative protections and doomsday suppositions for the industry.

A white paper from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce says that the auditing industry is "severely contracted' and could eventually lead to complete erosion of public confidence in the market.

The inspection division of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board said that there's room for improvement in how the young agency conducts its inspections of auditing firms.

The American Institute of CPAs' Auditing Standards Board has reissued its exposure draft containing a proposed statement on standards for attestation engagements.

Without providing details, a lawyer for former Qwest finance chief Robin Szeliga said that her deal with the Securities and Exchange Commission had collapsed.

Barry Goldsmith, the enforcement chief of brokerage regulator NASD, will step down in March to return to private law practice, and his deputy was named as his acting replacement.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board will continue its forums on auditing in the small business environment throughout 2006.

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted unanimously to propose a number of changes to the disclosure rules for executive pay packages.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has launched a formal investigation into an accounting change made by IBM in 2005.

Many of the 19 former tax professionals facing trial over the sale of KPMG tax shelters, whose legality has been questioned by the federal government, have asked for the dismissal of the charges in a variety of joint motions.