Regulatory actions and programs

The prospects for Chinese companies going public on the U.S. stock markets via reverse mergers appear to improving, despite the worries about accounting fraud that derailed several Chinese stocks in recent years.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board proposed for public comment a new auditing standard and related amendments to enhance the auditor's reporting model in mid-August.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has released the latest version of the U.S. GAAP Taxonomy using the data-tagging technology, XBRL, or Extensible Business Reporting Language, which the Securities and Exchange Commission now requires public companies to use with their financial statement filings.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s recent proposal to overhaul the format of the auditor’s reporting model could lead to unexpected legal repercussions for auditors.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board released its latest inspection reports Wednesday on KPMG LLP and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, revealing various problems uncovered with the firms’ audits.

The ratio of audit fees over revenue was the lowest last year since 2004, according to a report by the research firm Audit Analytics, making it the lowest since the implementation of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

The Institute of Internal Auditors plans to open a new American Center for Government Auditing in early 2014 and has hired a new director to run it.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board found deficiencies in all of the firms it inspected that audit broker-dealers, according to a report released Monday, and in 95 percent of the individual audits that the PCAOB inspected.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board unveiled far-reaching proposals this week for enhancing the auditor’s reporting model in what could be the biggest transformation of the audit report in over 70 years.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board proposed for public comment a new auditing standard and related amendments to enhance the auditor's reporting model on Tuesday.

Investors are more concerned about improving the quality of financial disclosures rather than simply reducing the quantity of them, according to a new report from the CFA Institute, which takes aim at some recently proposed disclosure reforms that seek to cut down disclosure overload.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has scheduled a meeting for next Tuesday to consider proposing for public comment a new auditing standard and related amendments to enhance the auditor’s reporting model.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday that it has filed an application in a New York federal court for enforcement against a CPA who violated an earlier SEC suspension order.

The Financial Reporting Council, the United Kingdom’s standard-setter for accounting, auditing and actuarial work, announced two separate investigations this week into Grant Thornton U.K.’s work with two audit clients, beverage maker Nichols plc., and mortgage lender the Manchester Building Society.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has released its latest inspection report on Ernst & Young after the New York-based firm failed to address certain quality control issues to the satisfaction of the PCAOB.

Governmental Accounting Standards Board chairman David Vaudt and Financial Accounting Standards Board chairman Russell Golden discuss how they are working together on initiatives such as leasing and pension standards, communicating about accounting standards in a more understandable way, and reaching out to key stakeholders for input, in a joint interview with Accounting Today editor-in-chief Daniel Hood.

Public Company Accounting Oversight Board member Jeanette Franzel told a group of accounting educators that lack of professional skepticism is one of the main reasons for the prevalence of audit weaknesses found in the PCAOB’s inspections of the work of auditing firms.

Governmental Accounting Standards Board chairman David Vaudt talks about his plans as GASB's new leader and the board's agenda for pension standards, post-employment benefits in the retiree health care area, and the need to provide useful information for elected officials and government policymakers, in an interview with Accounting Today editor-in-chief Daniel Hood.

It is time that all governments started keeping their books using the same accounting system that for-profit businesses use.

Both public and private companies saw an increase in the auditing fees they paid to outside firms, according to a new survey by Financial Executives International.