Treasury Advisory Committee On Audit Profession Seeks Comment On
Additional Recommendations
June 3, 2008
FEI Summary

At its June 3, 2008 meeting, the U.S. Treasury Department's Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession (ACAP), co-chaired by former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Arthur Levitt Jr. and former SEC Chief Accountant Don Nicolaisen, voted to publish in the Federal Register and seek public comment on an Addendum to its May 5 Draft Report (see FEI summary) .

The Addendum adds four new issues (the first being in the form of a "recommendation") relating to: 1) a recommendation that the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) should reconsider the form and content of the auditor’s report; 2) whether engagement partners (not just the "firm") should sign audit reports; 3) whether audit firms should be required to make public a set of audited financial statements for their own firm; and 4) whether it would be appropriate to transfer to federal court jurisdiction certain claims against auditors and related issues regarding a uniform standard of care.

The Draft Report was previously published for public comment, with comments due June 13.

ACAP voted on June 3 to provide a 30-day comment period on the Addendum (presumably, 30 days after it is published in the Federal Register. As of June 6, the Addendum had not yet been published in the Federal Register).

Related summaries:

Auditor Liability, Transparency, Human Capital Addressed by Panels at Treasury ACAP Meeting

European Commission Recommends Member States Limit Auditor Liability  

Updated June 9, 2008 by Edith Orenstein, Director, Technical Policy Analysis, Financial Executives International (FEI). This summary does not represent FEI opinion unless specifically noted above.