Washington, D.C., May 27, 2010 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the appointment of Brian Croteau as Deputy Chief Accountant for the Professional Practice Group in the agency's Office of the Chief Accountant (OCA). Mr. Crouteau previously served in OCA as a Senior Associate Chief Accountant.
"I am pleased that Brian has agreed to again serve with us. His expertise, wisdom and insight will be an important addition as we continue to improve audit quality," said Jim Kroeker, SEC Chief Accountant.
Mr. Croteau said, "I'm honored and delighted to be returning to the SEC at such an important time to work with the talented and dedicated staff in the Office of the Chief Accountant on behalf of the investing public. I look forward to applying my recent auditing and regulatory experiences to the continuous improvement of audit quality and financial reporting to enhance the reliability and usefulness of information provided to investors."
Prior to joining the staff, Mr. Croteau served as an Assurance Partner in the Auditing Services Group of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP's national office where his responsibilities have included providing consultation and support regarding implementation, application, and development of auditing policies and standards. During his previous tenure in OCA, Mr. Croteau was instrumental in addressing a number of challenging auditing and internal control reporting related matters.
As Deputy Chief Accountant for the Professional Practice Group, Mr. Croteau will play a key role in nearly all aspects of the Commission's work related to overseeing the activities of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), managing the resolution of audit independence issues and ethical matters, and monitoring audit and independence standard-setting internationally. He replaces Paul Beswick who was named in November 2009 as Deputy Chief Accountant for the Accounting Group in OCA.
Mr. Croteau received his Bachelor of Business Administration, with a major in accounting, from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.
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