The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board released Thursday staff guidance to help auditors of brokers-dealers registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission to plan and perform audits in accordance with PCAOB standards as mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and SEC rules.
“To enhance investor protection, broker-dealer auditors must now meet PCAOB requirements,” said PCAOB Chairman James Doty, in a statement. “This guidance is tailored to help auditors of smaller broker-dealers develop a cost-effective, scaled approach to their audits.”
The Dodd-Frank Act amended the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to, among other things, give the PCAOB oversight authority for the audits of broker-dealers registered with the SEC.
The staff guidance discusses how audits can be scaled, based on a BD’s size and complexity, to apply to PCAOB standards.
In July 2013, the SEC amended Exchange Act Rule 17a-5 to require, among other things, that audits of broker-dealers be conducted in accordance with PCAOB standards.
In October 2013, the PCAOB adopted an auditing standard and two attestation standards that apply to broker-dealer audits.