PCAOB

The International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators reported on issues with how firms are scrutinizing accounting estimates, testing internal controls, checking revenue recognition and more.

Efforts in the U.S. and Europe to encourage public companies to change audit firms have largely failed, according to new academic research.

Awareness, communication and documentation are the keys to staying independent.

The Big Four firm had the larger number of new clients for the year, but the Seattle firm netted the most.

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.