Soyoung Ho

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) initiated an examination of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's (PCAOB) audit firm inspection process in September 2025, citing the importance of inspections to the board's oversight of audit quality, the time since the commission's previous examination in 2009, and industry concerns about consistency in inspection results, according to a congressional watchdog.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) is eliminating its standalone Office of the Investor Advocate and moving the Investor Advocate role under the Office of Communications and Engagement as part of a reorganization.

When the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in May issued a proposal that would give public companies the option to provide semiannual reports instead of quarterly reports, some experts predicted that the commission would finalize the rule by the end of the year as it is a priority project for Chairman Paul Atkins, whose goal has been to "Make IPOs Great Again."

Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) member George Botic said the board should continue working on a rule that would require disclosures of audit firm and engagement-level metrics, describing the information as relevant to investors' and audit committees' assessment of audit quality.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) on September 30, 2026, published the first standard-setting and rulemaking agendas under the new board leadership headed by Demetrios Logothetis who became chairman in February.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on October 1, 2026, issued a proposal that would eliminate a requirement that certain accountants and auditors engaged under the investment adviser custody rule be registered with and subject to regular audit inspection by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) criticized Ernst & Young LLP for failing to address quality control (QC) problems found during an audit inspection. This is the fourth consecutive time that the inspections team has identified QC deficiencies.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed rule changes that would allow registered investment funds to cross trade securities valued using observable inputs – a category aligned with Level 2 inputs under U.S. GAAP – potentially restoring eligibility for many fixed-income securities.

Big Four accounting firms in comment letters urged the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's (PCAOB) recent revisions to QC 1000, A Firm's System of Quality Control, that responded to complaints – including concerns raised by the firms – that certain provisions of the standard adopted in 2024 under previous leadership are too burdensome without providing commensurate benefits.

Accounting firms are doing a better job of auditing public companies than in previous years, according to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's (PCAOB) 2025 inspection results.