Securities and Exchange Commission Chief Accountant Conrad Hewitt intends to leave the agency in January.
Hewitt has served at the SEC for two-and-a-half years and has been closely involved in efforts to set up a roadmap for the transition to International Financial Reporting Standards. When he joined the agency, succeeding Don Nicolaisen, he led efforts to issue guidance for complying with the Section 404 internal control requirements for Sarbanes-Oxley. He also worked to improve the auditor requirements under Sarbanes-Oxley, which led to the SEC's approval of a new risk-based auditing standard, AS5.
"It has been a privilege to work with the highly motivated and extremely talented staff in the SEC's Office of the Chief Accountant that has exceeded my every expectation, and it also has been an honor to serve under Chairman Cox," said Hewitt in a statement. "I'm proud of our office's accomplishments and the steps we have taken to improve financial reporting transparency in these difficult economic times. I'm also pleased with the close collaboration our office has had with the FASB and the PCAOB, and I will miss the relationships we have forged while working together to solve a number of difficult problems."
Hewitt will be leaving the agency as the Obama administration takes over in Washington, along with SEC Chairman Christopher Cox and John White, director of the Division of Corporate Finance.
