Audit standards

Some of the standards were inherited two decades ago from the AICPA and don't take into account ever-changing technology.

PCAOB sanctions Canadian firm over noncooperation with inspections

The board sanctioned the Big Four firm's member firm in South Korea and two of its former auditors for violating quality standards.

The board aims to modernize standards, enhance inspections, strengthen enforcement and improve organizational effectiveness.

Gary Gensler has been encouraging the PCAOB to update more of the standards to take into account the way firms are working today.

The board's chair, Erica Williams, said the PCAOB is working on updated auditing standards and stricter enforcement and inspections.

Regulators from the two countries have been locked in negotiations over granting U.S. auditor watchdogs complete and open access to the audit work papers of about 200 Chinese companies.

The PCAOB is being urged to update older standards more quickly.

There’s a simple technical fix for the exam cheating that landed Ernst & Young with a $100 million fine from the SEC, but the problems go deeper.

The Big Four firm admitted that dozens of its audit personnel cheated on the ethics portion of the exam, and that it misled regulators probing the misconduct.