Responding to a PCAOB Investigation

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board ("PCAOB") is a nonprofit corporation established by Congress under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to oversee the audits of public companies in order to protect investors and the public interest by promoting informative, accurate, and independent audit reports. 2017 was another active year for the PCAOB's Division of Enforcement and Investigations (DEI). The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) made 55 settled and adjudicated orders public in 2017 a slight decrease from the 59 disciplinary proceedings it made public in 2016.

Changes in the audit regulatory environment may soon lead to continued PCAOB enforcement activity. Attorneys who represent accounting firms and accountants must be familiar with the PCAOB investigatory process should their clients become the subject of a PCAOB investigation. This course, presented by Bob Cox of Briglia Hundley, P.C. provides an overview of the PCAOB informal and formal investigation process, including tips for managing and seeking early resolution of investigations.

Mr. Cox was previously an Assistant Director with PCAOB DEI for more than six years. Prior to the PCAOB, MR. Cox was a partner at the then largest litigation-focused law firm in the country where he handled complex antitrust, commercial, and securities cases.

1. Study PCAOB enforcement priorities and sources of investigations

2. Examine the PCAOB informal inquiry process, including practical guidance for responding to information and document requests

3. Distinguish the implications and different processes associated with the conversion of an informal inquiry to a formal investigation

4. Provide practical guidance about testimony of witnesses in a formal investigation in terms of the process and rights of witnesses

5. Gain a general understanding of a PCAOB disciplinary proceeding