Washington (April 16, 2003) - The wait is over.
The Securities and Exchange Commission named Federal Reserve Bank veteran William McDonough as chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, the five-member body created as a result of Sarbanes-Oxley.
McDonough, 68, currently serves as president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank. He had previously announced that he would retire from that post July 21.
At a news conference announcing McDonough’s selection, SEC chairman William Donaldson said, ``Working together, we have found someone who not only meets the criteria, but who also lives up to the additional standards that we all agreed were important, including independence and keen understanding of financial markets.”
Donaldson had stated that naming a PCAOB chairman would be among the top agenda items of his administration.
McDonough will replace acting PCOAB chairman Charles Niemeier, who assumed the job on an interim basis following the November resignation of inaugural PCAOB chairman William Webster.
Webster stepped down after it was disclosed he headed the audit committee of a tech concern under investigation for accounting irregularities.
McDonough, who also spent over two decades with First Chicago Corp. and the First National Bank of Chicago, was optimistic that he could assume the post in late May.
-- WebCPA Staff
