PCAOB Plans International Inspections

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has released a list of countries abroad where it intends to conduct inspections of auditing firms.

The PCAOB said in December that it would begin conducting the inspections of non-U.S. firms this year after an initial delay (see PCAOB Postpones Non-U.S. Firm Inspections). It said at the time that it was delaying the inspections in order to avoid conflicts with the laws in other countries.

The board said Tuesday that it is publishing a list of countries in order to provide transparency about its international inspection plans this year. However, if the PCAOB later removes a jurisdiction from this list, it will make a public announcement explaining why its plans have changed for the particular jurisdiction.

The PCAOB said it plans to conduct inspections in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Kazakhstan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Portugal, the Russian Federation, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

The board has already conducted some inspections of non-U.S. firms. The PCAOB published a list of these countries as well. Many of the same countries are on the list. However, Bermuda, Colombia, India, the Netherlands, Panama, Peru, South Africa, and Chinese Taipei have apparently been dropped from the list of places where firms will be inspected this year.