Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chief Accountant Kurt Hohl, speaking at a conference, once again sought to set the record straight about what the commission intends to do with auditor independence rules, addressing what he described as inaccurate media reports claiming that the agency will relax these requirements.
Hohl stressed that the SEC’s Office of Chief Accountant (OCA) is examining audit firm independence rules due to emerging issues that could impact auditor objectivity to make sure the rules set in the past are workable in today’s environment. Notably, private equity (PE) firms are increasingly investing in accounting firms, and both companies and audit firms are adopting artificial intelligence (AI) to reduce costs and improve efficiency.
To dig deeper, visit the original article on the Thomson Reuters blog.