Board to Establish Public Company Billing System

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) announced today that it will hold a special public meeting on Thursday, March 13, 2003 at 1:30 p.m. in the William O. Douglas Room of the Securities and Exchange Commission, 450 Fifth Street NW, Washington, DC.

At this public meeting, the PCAOB will consider whether to propose, and seek comment on, rules relating to public company funding of the Board’s operations. Section 109 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 provides that funds to cover the Board’s annual budget (less registration and annual fees paid by public accounting firms to cover the cost of processing and reviewing registration applications and annual reports) are to be collected from public companies, including both U.S. companies and foreign private issuers, and investment companies. The Board vote on the proposed public company funding rules would begin a rulemaking process that includes consideration of public comment. Following the close of the comment period, the Board will determine whether to amend its proposal, will adopt final public company funding rules, and will submit those rules to the Commission for approval.