PCAOB Concludes Third International Auditor Regulatory Institute

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board yesterday concluded its third International Auditor Regulatory Institute. Representatives of auditor oversight bodies and government agencies from 42 countries convened in Washington, DC, to learn more about the PCAOB’s programs and exchange views on issues that have an impact on the oversight of auditors.

The Institute took place over two days, offering seminars on the structure of the PCAOB’s auditor oversight program, considerations relevant to international inspections, and current topics in enforcement and standard setting. The Institute also included a panel discussion with representatives of several of the PCAOB’s international counterparts, addressing a range of issues related to auditor oversight worldwide.

"The third International Auditor Regulatory Institute took place in the wake of a global financial crisis that has renewed the focus on investor protection, corporate governance, financial reporting, and auditor regulation around the world. In this environment, the sharing of information among audit oversight authorities about their regulatory frameworks is an indispensable first step to forging mutually beneficial cooperative relationships that will help all of us to better achieve our goals of serving the public interest,” said PCAOB Acting Chairman Daniel L. Goelzer.

More than 920 audit firms from 87 jurisdictions outside the U.S. are currently registered with the PCAOB. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires PCAOB registration and periodic PCAOB inspections of public accounting firms, including non-U.S. public accounting firms, that audit U.S. public companies.

"Once again this year we found a high level of interest in the PCAOB’s International Regulatory Institute, resulting in a lively exchange of information about various aspects of auditor oversight. We were pleased to see that attendees included not only representatives from jurisdictions who had not attended previously, but also some new faces from regulatory counterparts with whom we have established relationships,” said Rhonda Schnare, PCAOB Director of International Affairs."

Now in its seventh year of operation, the PCAOB established the Institute in 2007 to provide a forum for open discussion, among regulators around the world, about the approaches to auditor oversight and improving audit quality.