The U.S. Treasury Department will audit every loan of more than $2 million provided under the Paycheck Protection Program for businesses hurt by the coronavirus fallout, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said earlier this week. The announcement by Mnuchin comes after a public outcry over concerns some public companies and wealthy Read More
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it is extending the filing periods covered by its previously enacted conditional reporting relief for certain public company filing obligations under the federal securities laws, and that it is also extending regulatory relief previously provided to funds and investment advisers whose operations may Read More
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges against alcohol producer Diageo plc for failing to disclose its knowledge of high-pressure sales tactics to ship excess products to distributors to meet internal sales targets at its North American distributors. Diageo has agreed to pay $5 million to settle the enforcement action. Read More
Tucked inside the Trump Administration’s $4.8 Trillion budget proposal for fiscal year 2021, released last week, is a plan that has caught the eye of Big Four auditors and internal auditors as well: The White House has proposed to merge the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board into the Securities and Read More
The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed amendments to securities regulations that, if passed, would change the requirements for disclosing financial information. It says the changes would modernize, simplify, and enhance some financial disclosure requirements in Regulation S-K. The proposed changes would also require some new disclosures. In a statement, Read More
A new report issued by an independent U.K. committee convened to review just about every facet of the audit function—from internal controls to internal audit to the independent assurance function offered by the Big Four and others—is urging a complete overhaul of the audit process. The Brydon Report, issued today, Read More
The U.S. Justice Department has announced the formation of a new unit to combat fraud in government procurement and in grant and program funding. The unit, labeled the Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF) will focus on deterring, detecting, investigating and prosecuting antitrust crimes, such as bid-rigging conspiracies and related fraudulent Read More
In a letter to Parliament, the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors called on the U.K. government for new legislation to reform how the audit industry is regulated in the wake of a series of major corporate collapses. The professional association, which represents internal auditors in the United Kingdom and Ireland, Read More
A new report finds that companies are making changes to financial disclosures, conducting audit “dry runs,” and even improving and adding new controls ahead of a new regulation that will require audit firms to disclose financial reporting issues that cause concern for auditors, known as “critical audit matters” or CAMs. Read More
A new academic study is calling into question a rule enacted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board that requires audit firms to disclose the name of the lead engagement partner who oversaw the audit. The regulation is known as Rule 3211 and took effect in January 2017. The idea Read More
