Regulatory actions and programs

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has published a staff inspection brief detailing the objectives, focus, and scope of its ongoing inspections in 2015 of auditors of brokers and dealers.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board announced that the next meeting of its Investor Advisory Group.

The American Institute of CPAs' Auditing Standards Board has issued a new exposure draft proposing amendments to the auditing standard on auditor’s reports.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued an interpretive rule clarifying that whistleblowers are protected by retaliation by employers even if they have not reported their concerns to the SEC first.

In an age of stepped-up regulation and enforcement, accountants and their clients need to know how to cope with a variety of different agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

Profs. Miller & Bahnson dive deep into the standard-setter in an all-new edition of a classic text

The Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General issued a report criticizing PricewaterhouseCoopers’ audit of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and has referred to the matter to the American Institute of CPAs’ Professional Ethics Division.

One of the more intriguing questions stemming from the Toshiba Corp. accounting scandal is this: Where was the whistleblower?

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced a settlement Monday with a Brooklyn man who entered into a cooperation agreement to help the agency mount evidence in an insider trading scheme in which illegal tips were passed via napkins or Post-It notes at Grand Central Terminal that the tipster would then consume to destroy the evidence.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has sanctioned seven audit firms for violating independence requirements in connection with audits of brokers and dealers, and sanctioned engagement partners at two of the firms for causing the violations.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is increasingly relying on administrative hearings for its enforcement actions, according to a new report.

The U.K. Financial Reporting Council is investigating former employees of RSA Insurance Group Plc’s Irish unit regarding accounting irregularities in 2012.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has voted Wednesday to publish a concept release asking for public comments about the current audit committee disclosure requirements, focusing particularly on toughening the committee’s oversight of independent auditors.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Deloitte & Touche LLP with violating auditor independence rules when its consulting affiliate maintained a business relationship with a trustee serving on the boards and audit committees of three funds it audited.

XBRL US has joined up with five companies to improve the quality of financial filings in Extensible Business Reporting Language with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Deutsche Bank AG with filing misstated financial reports during the height of the financial crisis that failed to take into account a material risk for potential losses estimated to be in the billions of dollars, and Deutsche Bank agreed to pay a $55 million penalty to settle the charges.

The Financial Accounting Foundation has released its 2014 annual report, which focuses on its recently released strategic plan.

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged a CPA and his son in New York on Thursday, accusing them of conducting an insider trading scheme involving tips on nonpublic information that they sent in coded email messages disguised as discussions about golf.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has appointed Wesley R. Bricker as deputy chief accountant overseeing the accounting group in the agency’s Office of the Chief Accountant, replacing Dan Murdock, who is leaving the SEC for a job in the private sector.

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted Wednesday to propose rules to require companies to disclose the relationship between executive compensation and the financial performance of a company.