PCAOB Audit Regulation a Decade after SOX: Where It Stands and What the Future Holds

Abstract

SYNOPSISThis commentary assesses the status of audit regulation under the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and explores what the future might hold. The commentary discusses how discretionary choices in implementing the PCAOB's legislative mandates under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, and the 2012 Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act have shaped the Board and the PCAOB's inspection, standard-setting, and enforcement activities over its first decade. The commentary suggests that the importance of discretionary choices gives rise to a necessity to develop, articulate, and adhere to core principles of audit regulation. The commentary uses the PCAOB's articulated principles to explore what appear to be some of the key determinants of the future of audit regulation under the PCAOB.