Group Faults PCAOB on Oversight of Auditors

A Reuters report on a study by independent watchdog group the Project on Government Oversight, suggests the PCAOB has been lax in overseeing the Big Four accounting firms. Based on data it compiled, the group says the PCAOB has taken disciplinary action over only a tiny fraction of apparent audit violations its staff has identified and that actual PCAOB financial penalties have been insignificant compared to the fines it could have imposed. According to the Reuters report, the PCAOB has brought 18 enforcement cases related to 21 audits against the Big Four and has levied $6.5 million in fines in the regulator’s 16 years of existence. In a statement to Reuters, a PCAOB spokeswoman challenged the study, saying that the enforcement program is not the sole means by which the PCAOB fulfills its statutory mandate.