Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI) introduced legislation recently that seeks to reform the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).
The Streamlining Public Company Accounting Oversight Act would amend the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and move the PCAOB to authority of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Office of the Chief Accountant.
“This bill codifies into law what Chairman Gensler admitted during today’s Financial Services Committee Hearing. The PCAOB is not an independent body,” Huizenga, ranking member of the Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets Subcommittee, said. “If the PCAOB is not going to operate independently, then it should be folded into the SEC. The Streamlining Public Company Accounting Oversight Act will eliminate bureaucracy, make government more efficient by eliminating redundancy and save money.”
Via the legislation, the Office of Public Company Accounting Oversight would be established at the SEC. Its responsibilities would include inspections of registered public accounting firms and investigations similar in scope to those executed by the PCAOB. The bill also notes the PCAOB would be dissolved within two years of enactment, per authorities.
The PCAOB presently consists of five board members earning nearly $550,000 per member, officials said, adding the board chair earns $670,000.
The PCAOB board members and chair are paid over three times the reported salary of the SEC Chairman, according to proponents of the measure. Bill supporters maintain the legislation would aid in reducing government size.