New Layer of BD Audit Rules Mulled by PCAOB

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board plans to meet on Thursday to consider adopting a series of audit-related standards for broker-dealers that one lawyer says will add yet another layer of compliance on BDs’ plate.

The PCAOB, which was given authority under the Dodd-Frank Act to oversee the audits of BDs registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, will consider at an open meeting adopting attestation standards for auditors of BDs, an auditing standard for supplemental information, and related amendments to other PCAOB standards.

The Board says it will also consider two attestation standards related to the auditor’s examination of compliance reports and review of exemption reports of BDs, as well as consider a new standard on auditing supplemental information that accompanies financial statements audited in accordance with PCAOB standards.

Josh Horn, a partner and co-chairman of the Securities Industry Practice at Fox Rothschild in Philadelphia, told ThinkAdvisor that the standards, if adopted, “will have wide impact” on BDs, adding yet “another layer of compliance.”