This change is intended only as a way of clarifying that the test focuses on the status of the relevant covered person at the time of the mortgage loan. 329 See, e.g., Written Testimony of Mauricio Kohn, CFA, CMA, CFM, AIMR (Sept. 20, 2000) ("We do not believe it is necessary to impose a mandatory `cooling-off period,' prohibit clients from hiring audit firm professionals, or stipulate that an audit firm's independence is impaired when its professionals accept key positions with current clients."). This provision identifies additional circumstances that impair independence, beyond the circumstances in our proposed rule.274 For instance, this provision would provide that independence is impaired when the sister or parent of a partner in the firm who is not a covered person controls an audit client. Academic literature describes how managers' incentives can deviate from those of investors.564 For example, a company manager may have a family or financial relationship with the auditor and may benefit from a lack of complete independence from the company's auditor. At the same time that more and more individual investors are participating in our capital markets, either directly or through mutual funds, pension plans, and retirement plans, we have seen growing public concern about the increasing importance of non-audit services to accounting firms. Investors benefit under the rule from the knowledge that the accounting firms are not providing certain services that impair their independence. 325 See, e.g., Written Testimony of ICAEW (Sept. 13, 2000). In this sense, "office" may transcend physical boundaries, and it is possible that a firm may have a sub-group that constitutes an "office" even though the personnel making up that sub-group are stationed at various places around the country or the world. 260 See AICPA SAS No. Consequently, the rule amendments provide a general standard for determining auditor independence and identify relationships that render an accountant not independent of an audit client under the standard in Rule 2-01(b). Further, he estimates the gross profit margin to be 0.20.605 We acknowledge that there is little empirical evidence to support this estimate, but it represents the larger of the two estimates presented by the two representatives of the accounting firms.606 Applying those percentages to our estimate of revenues restricted by the rule results in an annual estimate of lost synergies of $10.1 million for audit clients who will be forced to reduce internal audit outsourcing services from their auditors. "); Public Oversight Board ("POB"), Scope of Services by CPA Firms, at 27 (Mar. (ii) Other financial interests and employment relationships. . The required disclosure will permit investors to decide whether such services create independence concerns. Working together, we can devise rules that will protect the public interest today and for decades to come. However, if certain parts are under warranty, you may have a significant amount of coverage on them. Several activities of independent auditors have raised questions. We requested comment on the IRFA, and we received several comments in response. The Blue Ribbon Committee on Improving the Effectiveness of Corporate Audit Committees (the "Blue Ribbon Committee"), Report and Recommendations, at 22 (1999) (the "Blue Ribbon Report"). 123 Earnscliffe II, supra note 38, at 44. It also provides for a cooling-off period before the audit firm is able to carry out the statutory audit of the same entity again. 682 See Deloitte & Touche Letter. 563 See Letter of Charles C. Cox, Kenneth R. Cone, and Gustavo E. Bamberger, Lexecon Inc. (Sept. 25, 2000) ("Lexecon Letter"). Texas adopted a statutory provision to prevent the use of audits as loss leaders in order to protect small audit firms that could not compete in a market where audits were underpriced. These commenters also estimate the aggregate cost of lost synergies on the order of 1%-2% of non-audit revenues from SEC clients. . The number of "audit failures" says nothing about misjudgments in the gray area. The IRFA discussed establishing differing standards in the area of non-audit services, and further discussed the three other alternatives contained in the RFA, mentioned above. and Bus. The relaxation of share ownership constraints that are proposed in this document should allay most fears of future auditors."). However, we have done modification in cool room. Each professional in a large accounting firm should be able to demonstrate competence with respect to professional standards, legal requirements, and firm policies and procedures. The rule does not impose any additional costs with respect to the separations of former partners that have occurred prior to the effective date of this rule. We believe that investors should be informed of the aggregate amount of the registrant's audit fee and the fees billed for information technology services and other non-audit services provided by the independent principal accountant to these service providers. Once the warranty has expired, it may be time to replace this part. 184 Written Testimony of J. Michael Cook, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte & Touche (July 26, 2000). The list was prepared by the ISB. 219 See, e.g., Testimony of Thomas J. Sadler, Past Chair, Washington State Board of Accountancy (Sept. 20, 2000); Letter of Mark A. Maurice, Chief Financial Officer, Avenir Group, Inc. (Aug. 15, 2000); Letter of Allan W. Nietzke, CPA (Sept. 23, 2000); Letter of Steven F. Farrel, CPA, ABV Gaither Rutherford & Co. LLP (Sept. 22, 2000); Letter of Honkamp Krueger and Co., P.C. 33 See Richard C. Breeden, Roderick M. Hills, David S. Ruder and Harold M. Williams (former Chairmen of the SEC), Editorial, "Accounting for Conflicts," Wash. Post, at A31 (July 21, 2000) ("This initiative is timely and necessary. Finally, the amendments require most public companies to disclose in their annual proxy statements certain information related to, among other things, the non-audit services provided by their auditor during the most recent fiscal year. 34 For example, Items 25 and 26 of Schedule A to the Securities Act, 15 U.S.C. 0000001393 00000 n A global leader in the $24 billion textile chemicals & $10 billion antimicrobial fabrics market. Accordingly, we have revised paragraph (B)(2)(i) to focus on the "signing of an initial engagement letter or other agreement," rather than "accepting the engagement." And auditor independence, in turn, can be threatened in numerous ways, only one of which is the provision of non-audit services. We solicited comment on whether our proposed rule on legal services created uncertainty or complexity since the prohibition focused on the jurisdiction in which the legal services were provided. We are concerned that the shift in a firm's emphasis away from auditing and toward non-audit services causes, over time, a cultural shift within the firm. He further stated, "The survey results confirm what most practitioners have felt for decades - that large consulting engagements for audit clients can raise serious concerns regarding audit independence. . As discussed more fully above, since that time, there has been a dramatic transformation of the accounting industry. This formulation was intended to provide a more precise definition of the subset of associated persons who constitute "substantial stockholders" in the existing restrictions on business relationships in the Codification.334 Commenters, however, expressed concerns with this threshold.335 Similarly, one large accounting firm expressed concern with the proposed language, asserting that our proposal would "greatly expand[] the universe of venture capital firms with which we could not have any business relationships."336. Specifically, we defined as an "affiliate of the accounting firm" any person controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the firm, shareholders of more than five percent of the firm's voting securities, and entities five percent or more of whose securities are owned by the firm. For purposes of this section: (1) Accountant, as used in paragraphs (b) through (e) of this section, means a certified public accountant or public accountant performing services in connection with an engagement for which independence is required. The only thing that has changed, in my opinion, is that the risks to the system have increased. The provision includes a non-exclusive list of employment relationships that are inconsistent with the general standard of paragraphs (b) and (c)(2). . Because the adviser plays an integral role in managing and overseeing the investment company, we believe the fees billed for non-audit services provided to a fund's adviser are relevant and should be disclosed. For the reasons set forth in the Proposing Release, we believe that there is a fundamental conflict between the role of an independent auditor and that of an attorney. Professor Antle provides analysis to estimate the aggregate cost of lost synergies. It is primarily used for sealing and is designed to be seated in a groove and … He found that "the auditors of companies not receiving an audit qualification of any type over the period derived a significantly higher proportion of their remuneration from non-audit services fees than the auditors of companies receiving at least one audit qualification." As discussed below, these modifications lower the already minor burden on registrants of making this disclosure. Nevertheless, the authors of these studies concluded that this evidence was not inconsistent with the hypothesis that the joint provision of audit and non-audit services may give rise to "knowledge spillovers." . "194, b. Brand Finance reported, Analysts are concerned that the acceptance of non-audit fees by auditors is likely to result in the independence of the audit being compromised. The Commission received comments concerning the proposed collection of information requirements. They further state that at that time, "[t]he prohibition of non-accounting, non-audit services would not appear to have a substantial impact on firms because these services do not represent a large percentage of total revenues. Horizons, at 32-52 (December 1996) ("Lowe 1996"); J.G. Our analysis indicates that approximately fifty-four percent of registrants have assets of less than $200 million, which, of course, would exclude all companies defined as "small businesses" for purposes of the RFA. We have, accordingly, determined to allow the limited relationships described above under the conditions recommended and used at this time by the AICPA. We expect that this system, for example, would contain current and accurate information about audit, review, and attest clients of the accounting firm and the affiliates of those audit clients. The authority citation for Part 210 is revised to read as follows: Authority: 15 U.S.C. Settling Financial Arrangements with Former Professionals. Rev., at 785-800 (October 1981) ("Shockley"); D.J. It's really a public policy choice that the government needs to make, I think. Even if the rule leads to only a very small change in that rate of return, the annual benefit could be in the range of one half to two billion dollars. 2000); AICPA Board of Directors, Meeting the Financial Reporting Needs of the Future: A Public Commitment From the Public Accounting Profession, at 4 (June 1993) ("AICPA Board Report"); see also Staff Report, supra note 74, at 51-52; In addressing an example of this problem, the court in Lincoln S&L v. Wall, 743 F. Supp. . The changes we have made recognize that, for some small companies, the company's auditor may be the only reasonably available service provider for certain services. By "office" we mean to encompass any reasonably distinct sub-group within an accounting firm, whether constituted by formal organization or informal practice, where the personnel who make up the sub-group generally serve the same clients, work on the same matters, or work on the same categories of matters. In the Proposing Release, we stated the burden would fall primarily on one-quarter of registrants because only one-quarter of registrants receive non-audit services from their accountants in any given year. Our Two-Pronged Approach Responds to Various Aspects of Auditor Independence. Because our rule, as adopted, conforms more closely to the Codification, we anticipate that it will provide greater clarity to the profession in interpreting Rule 2-01(c)(3) and address the concerns about the proposal that were articulated by several commenters. They will have useful insight into your coverage, service limitations and options. 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