Regulatory actions and programs

Cindy Fornelli, executive director of the Center for Audit Quality, discusses how the inspection process at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board works.

Global CEOs and U.S. small business owners would like political leaders and candidates for office to focus more on tax reform, regulation, the size of government and entitlements, and the national debt in order to stimulate economic growth and job creation, according to a new report.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s recently issued rule requiring companies to disclose their use of minerals from the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo could be an early indication of a future direction of regulators, prodding companies into providing more disclosures of environmental, social, humanitarian and labor issues.

Cindy Fornelli, executive director of the Center for Audit Quality, sees the demands increasing for auditors to do a better job of demonstrating independence, objectivity and professional skepticism, especially in the wake of recent financial scandals.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted a rule mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requiring companies to publicly disclose their use of conflict minerals that originated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or an adjoining country, and independently audit the reports.

The Securities and Exchange Commission adopted rules Wednesday mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requiring companies engaged in extracting oil, natural gas or minerals to disclose any payments they make to the U.S. government or foreign governments.

A new report from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board indicates that auditing firms have apparently ignored or forgotten the lessons that came out of the Bernard Madoff scandal and similar financial frauds of recent years.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is paying nearly $50,000 to a whistleblower who helped prevent a multimillion-dollar securities fraud, in the first award paid under a new whistleblower program.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board said in a report Monday that its initial inspections of auditors of broker-dealers uncovered problems with all of the audits.

On Friday, the Securities and Exchange Commission leveled charges and an emergency asset freeze on the perpetrators of an alleged $600 million Ponzi scheme that was on the verge of collapse.

British soccer team Manchester United, which went public on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, said in its IPO filing that it may take advantage of the relaxed reporting and auditing requirements for so-called “emerging growth companies” in the JOBS Act.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has named Gregory J. Jonas as the new director of its Office of Research and Analysis.

An independent study of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board commissioned by its parent organization finds opinions divided on what GASB’s responsibilities should include as a standard-setter for state and local government accounting.

The trendy new term in the high-tech arena is “crowdfunding.” Both the President and Congress jumped on the crowdfunding bandwagon as a way to show they are doing something about the economy by passing the JOBS Act. What exactly is crowdfunding? Here’s one introduction through the eyes of a professional accountant and auditor.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has issued a release to provide information to audit committees about its inspection process and how they might use the inspection reports to question their auditing firms.

Grant Thornton's Stephen Chipman on the new Private Company Council

Odds have now turned against those hoping that the health care law passed in 2010 will "just go away."

As we acknowledge the 10th anniversary of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, we are once again in a period of re-examination of the role, relevance, and reliability of financial audits in protecting investors and the public interest. This seems to be, in part, a reaction to the financial crisis of the past few years.

The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. has approved the organization's first-ever Sanction Guidelines, which will be used by the Disciplinary and Ethics Commission and staff when determining sanctions for particular CFP Board violations.

A House subcommittee held a hearing to examine the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which marks its 10th anniversary this coming Sunday.