The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board announced that Martin F. Baumann will succeed Phil D. Wedemeyer as director of its Office of Research and Analysis.
Wedemeyer will leave the board at the end of this month.
PCAOB Chairman Mark Olson said that Baumann, who has served as the office’s deputy director since joining the PCAOB last September and helped to broaden the PCAOB’s risk analysis program, is a good fit to lead the office.
The Office of Research and Analysis is responsible for the board’s research efforts, including the identification and communication of audit risk. The office’s analysis supports the board’s risk-based approach to inspections of registered audit firms, its enforcement actions, and its development of guidance and other outreach efforts with registered audit firms.
Prior to joining the board, Baumann was executive vice president and chief financial officer of Freddie Mac, beginning in April 2003. Baumann led the completion of the home mortgage giant’s restatement and improvements to its financial reporting and disclosure practices. He also spent more than 30 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he was a partner, deputy chairman of the world financial services practice and global banking leader.
Wedemeyer joined the PCAOB in May 2003, shortly after the board was established, eventually becoming the deputy director of the Division of Registration and Inspections before taking the research director job in September 2005. The board did not announce where his next position will be, though he has spent most of his 35 years in the profession as an auditor.
