Board to Consider Rules on Investigations, Registration Withdrawal

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has scheduled an open meeting for 10 a.m. Monday, Sept. 29, in the Senate Room at the Capital Hilton, at 1001 16th St., N.W., in Washington, D.C. The Board is scheduled to consider:

• Adopting a rule governing withdrawal from registration. The Board has previously adopted rules relating to the process by which a public accounting firm registers with the Board. The Board will consider adopting a rule governing the process by which a firm may seek to withdraw its registration.
• Adopting rules on investigations and adjudications. Under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the Board's responsibilities include conducting investigations of possible violations of certain laws, rules, and professional standards, by registered public accounting firms and persons associated with those firms, holding disciplinary hearings and imposing a range of sanctions. The Board will consider adopting rules governing investigation and hearing procedures and setting out the sanctions the Board may impose.

Comments on the proposals are available on the Board's Web site, www.pcaobus.org, under Rulemaking. If adopted, the rules will be submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission for approval pursuant to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

The Board will reconvene at 2 p.m. Monday, Sept. 29, for a roundtable discussion on audit documentation and retention requirements. The roundtable will be held in the Congressional Room at the Capital Hilton.

Both the meeting and roundtable will be webcast and open to the public. Archived audio webcast of the Board's meeting is available here.