The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board said Thursday that Steven Richards, the former assistant chief accountant in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement, will be joining the board as special adviser to the PCAOB’s new chairman, James R. Doty, at the end of March.
Doty was named chairman of the PCAOB last month (see
Richards served as assistant chief accountant at the SEC from 2004 to 2008. While at the SEC, he was responsible for investigating complex technical accounting, financial reporting and disclosure issues, as well as evaluating the adequacy of procedures performed by independent auditors.
“The PCAOB and the investors we serve will benefit from the creative thinking and perspective that Steve Richards brings to audit oversight,” said Doty in a statement. “His experience in both government and the private sector has earned the high regard of his colleagues and will make him an important addition to my office and to the board.”
Richards joins the PCAOB from the Washington, D.C., office of FTI Consulting Inc., where he was a managing director in the forensic and litigation consulting segment. At FTI, he assisted boards, special committees and trustees with complex, fact-finding accounting investigations, most of them involving SEC enforcement and financial reporting issues. Most recently, he was a key member of the forensic investigations team retained by trustee Irving Picard to probe the Bernard L. Madoff investment fraud.
“I am excited and look forward to working with Chairman Doty and the talented staff of the PCAOB,” said Richards in a statement.
At the PCAOB, he will be working with Doty, as well as Samantha Ross, who is special counsel to the chairman.
