PCAOB Enters Into Cooperative Agreement with Finnish Audit Regulator

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board today announced that it has entered into a cooperative agreement with the Auditing Board of the Central Chamber of Commerce (AB3C) of Finland relating to the oversight of audit firms subject to the regulatory jurisdictions of both regulators. The agreement takes effect immediately.

"This agreement with Finland is the Board's sixth with a European Union member state regulator and marks our continued progress in cross-border audit regulatory cooperation," said PCAOB Chairman James R. Doty.

"We look forward to working closely with our Finnish counterparts," Doty said. "We can be significantly more effective together."

The PCAOB has concluded similar agreements within the European Union with the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and, most recently, France. Additionally, the PCAOB has agreements in Switzerland and Norway, and with several non-European regulators in North America, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia.

The PCAOB continues to pursue additional agreements with audit oversight authorities in other EU member states and jurisdictions around the world.

The agreement with the AB3C provides a framework for joint inspections and allows for the exchange of confidential information in accordance with the provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. Those provisions amended the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to permit the PCAOB to share confidential information with its non-U.S. counterparts under certain circumstances. An agreement on data protection is also part of the cooperative arrangement with Finland.

"The AB3C and the PCAOB both are committed to investor protection and to having a strong working relationship with each other," said Bruce Wilson, PCAOB Director of International Affairs.

Under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the PCAOB oversees and inspects all accounting firms that regularly audit public companies whose securities trade in U.S. markets. More than 900 audit firms currently registered with the PCAOB are located outside of the United States, spanning 87 jurisdictions. Currently, five registered firms are located in Finland.