NEW PCAOB REPORTING RULES
Washington, D.C. - The SEC has approved rules requiring public accounting firms registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board to report events such as legal proceedings and changes in a firm's contact information within 30 days to the PCAOB, as well as filing annual reports on disciplinary matters and other issues.
The rules take effect Oct. 12, 2009.
Under the new rules, certain events occurring after Oct. 12 must be reported by a registered firm in a special report on PCAOB Form 3 within 30 days. If the events occurred between the time of a firm's registration application and Oct. 12, a firm must report those events in a special report on Form 3 within 30 days after the Oct. 12 effective date. Accordingly, the earliest potential deadline for any firm's filing of a special report on Form 3 is Nov. 11, 2009.
In addition, the new guidelines require registered firms to file annual reports on Form 2, with the first reports being due June 30, 2010. Going forward, all firms registered as of March 31 of a particular year must, by June 30 of that year, file an annual report covering the 12-month period ending March 31. Information to be reported annually includes, among other things, information about audit reports issued, disciplinary histories of new personnel, and certain information about fees billed to issuer audit clients for various categories of services.
U.S., NEW ZEALAND SIGN MUTUAL RECOGNITION DEAL
New York - The U.S. International Qualifications Appraisal Board and the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants have entered into a five-year mutual recognition agreement that establishes the basis for reciprocity between the two countries' accounting professions.
The U.S. IQAB is a joint body of the American Institute of CPAs and the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. The agreements are still subject to state board acceptance.
This is the sixth accountancy agreement that the U.S. IQAB has signed with non-U.S. organizations.
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