US auditors get extension on new rules
Watchdog rules delayed for at least two months
The implementation of new auditor independence rules will be delayed for at
least another two months due to restrictions imposed by the Securities &
Exchange Commission.
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, the independent accounting
watchdog, adopted the auditor independence rules last July and in November it
then adopted a number of amendments aimed at streamlining the final approval
needed from the SEC.
A date of 31 March was set to enact some of the new rule’s pre-approval
requirements, but because the rules were only published for comment by the SEC
on 13 March, they cannot be enacted for at least 60 days.
Alongside the auditor independence rules, the board will also extend the
implementation schedule of a rule restricting audit firms‘ provision of tax
services to people in public companies who have financial reporting oversight
roles, such as chief financial officers, WebCPA reported.