PCAOB

William J. McDonough, the original chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board after the PCAOB was created by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and a former president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, died Monday.

The U.S. regulator overseeing auditors was rocked by criminal charges as federal prosecutors accused three former employees of leaking inside information to KPMG LLP so it could improve its audit results.

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged six CPAs Monday who were former senior officials at KPMG and ex-staffers at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board with participating in a scheme to misappropriate and misuse information on the PCAOB’s planned inspection of the Big Four firm.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board swore in its new chairman William D. Duhnke III on Tuesday, along with a new board member, Kathleen M. Hamm, at the headquarters of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The board’s staff are offering additional information on determining auditor tenure.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board said Wednesday it has imposed a $1.5 million civil penalty against Grant Thornton LLP and censure the firm for violations of quality control standards and for audit failures.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has appointed William Duhnke to succeed James Doty at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has released staff guidance on the new audit reporting standard and is hosting webinars to help auditors with preparing the new reports.

The American Institute of CPAs’ Auditing Standards Board has released three exposure drafts proposing ways to improve the usefulness of the auditor’s report, in response to recent standards from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has approved a reduced budget for fiscal year 2018 of approximately $259.9 million along with a strategic plan for 2017-2021, plus a smaller accounting support fee and staff.