Enforcement Actions

The Board imposes appropriate sanctions where justified in settled and litigated disciplinary proceedings. The PCAOB posts all publicly available opinions, orders, termination of bars, and other Board enforcement actions, as well as related SEC and court actions on review of those sanctions.

If a respondent in a litigated disciplinary proceeding petitions for SEC review of a Board-imposed sanction (or the SEC elects to review the sanction on its own), by law the sanction is stayed pending further action by the SEC. The Board is prohibited from publicly reporting the sanction unless and until the SEC lifts the stay. Consequently, the Board does not publish its opinions, orders, and other final actions imposing sanctions until the SEC has ordered that the stay be lifted or the opportunity for SEC review has passed. Because of the stay, the effective date of the sanctions imposed by the Board is different from the date of the Board action imposing the sanctions.

All parties against whom the Board has initiated proceedings have the right to a hearing. Hearings may be conducted in person or, in some circumstances, may consist solely of the submission of written materials.

Office of the Hearing Officers