CAQ Issues an Alert on SPACs
The Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) has released Auditor and Audit Committee Considerations Relating to Special Purpose Acquisition...
The IIA Urges that Internal Audit Play a Key Role in ESG Strategy
The Institute of Internal Auditors has released a White Paper entitled Internal Audit’s Role in ESG Reporting. The paper discusses risks...
CAQ Provides an Overview of Amendments to the Auditor Independence Rules
In Amendments to SEC Independence Rules, an Alert issued on June 10, the Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) summarizes recent amendments to...
Survey Finds that Audit Fees are Expected to Rise in 2021
According to the results of a survey conducted by research and advisory firm Gartner, Inc., respondents expect external audit fees to...
Climate Change is Rapidly Becoming an SEC Priority
The SEC is signaling that disclosure concerning climate change, and ESG issues broadly, will be a priority in 2021. New SEC Chair Gary...
PCAOB Releases 2021 Inspections Outlook and Audit Committee/Auditor Dialogue Tool
On April 6, the PCAOB released Spotlight: Staff Outlook for 2021 Inspections (2021 Outlook). This annual publication outlines areas the...
CAQ Provides Guidance on Auditor ESG Assurance
In July 2020, the Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) released a web-based report outlining the evolving role of auditors in ESG reporting....
EY on How Audit Committees Can Prepare for First Quarter Reporting
The EY Center for Board Matters has issued How audit committees can prepare for 2021 Q1 reporting. The report notes that companies are...
FERF Finds that Audit Fees Continue Their Upward March
The Financial Executives Research Foundation (FERF), the research affiliate of Financial Executives International (FEI), has released the...
Accounting Class Actions Increase and Settlements are More Expensive
Cornerstone Research has issued its annual report on accounting class action litigation. It makes clear that suing public companies for...
The PCAOB Speaks – With Audit Committee Chairs
During its 2020 inspections, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board offered the audit committee chairs of most of the U.S. public...
How is Internal Audit Doing? The IIA Has a Tool to Help Audit Committees Answer That Question
The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) has released Internal Audit Assessment Tool for Audit Committees to assist boards and audit...
The CAQ Summarizes CAM Reporting
In Critical Audit Matters: A Year in Review, the Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) analyzes critical audit matters (CAMs) communicated in...
Lessons from SEC Enforcement on Mitigating the Risk of Financial Reporting Fraud
The Anti-Fraud Collaboration (AFC), a group consisting of the Center for Audit Quality, the Institute of Internal Auditors, Financial...
What Should be on the Audit Committee’s 2021 Agenda?
At the beginning of each year, accounting and consulting firms present their views on the issues that audit committees should focus on at...
A Study Finds That Most Boards Lack Climate Expertise
In his 2021 Letter to CEOs, BlackRock CEO Laurence Fink emphasized the importance of board oversight of company climate-change strategy....
BlackRock Calls for Disclosure and Board Oversight of Company Plans for the Net-Zero Economy
Each year, Laurence Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, sends an open letter to corporate CEOs. Last...
Congress Takes Aim at Listed Chinese Companies but Might Hit Some U.S. Multinationals
On December 18, President Trump signed the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (HFCAA). The legislation, which passed both houses...
If at First You Don’t Succeed: SEC Adopts Revised Resource Extraction Disclosure Rule
On December 16, the SEC adopted rules that will require domestic or foreign SEC-reporting companies that engage in resource extraction to...