Recently, the SEC approved the PCAOB’s new auditor reporting standard, AS 3101, The Auditor’s Report on an Audit of Financial Statements When the Auditor Expresses an Unqualified Opinion. Hailed as the most significant change to the auditor report’s format in over 70 years, AS 3101 significantly changes the format of the existing auditor’s report, arming investors and market participants with increased information to navigate an ever-expanding and increasingly complex and global marketplace. Adopted by …

On December 15, 2015, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) continued its pursuit of providing investors with improved audit transparency and audit accountability by adopting new rules requiring auditors to disclose: the name of the engagement partner; the name, location and extent of participation of any other accounting firm participating in the audit whose work constituted at least 5 percent of total audit hours; and the number and aggregate extent of participation of…

Despite a decreased budget in 2015, Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) Chairman James R. Doty believed there would be enough resources to continue with the PCAOB’s strategic plan to serve as the oversight body Congress envisioned. As we reported back in February, Doty noted that the 2015 budget would allow for 75 inspections of firms that audit broker-dealers. Highlighting the PCAOB’s 24 settled disciplinary proceedings in 2014, Doty followed up these results…

Without admitting or denying the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s findings, Polycom Inc. settled with the agency on Tuesday, March 31, 2015, over alleged insufficient internal controls and disclosure violations for personal perk expenses. Andrew Miller, Polycom’s former CEO, traveled to Indonesia and South Africa with his girlfriend, took limousine rides, and purchased dress shirts, spa treatments, and tickets to musicals and sporting events − all on the company’s dime. His expenditures are detailed in…