SEC Amends Auditor Independence Rules Related to Loan Provision

The SEC has issued a final rule, Auditor Independence With Respect to Certain Loans or Debtor-Creditor Relationships.

The final rule amends the auditor independence rules by refocusing “the analysis that must be conducted to determine whether an auditor is independent when the auditor has a lending relationship with certain shareholders of an audit client at any time during an audit or professional engagement period.”

The final rule is effective 90 days after its publication in the Federal Register. For more information, see the press release and final rule on the SEC’s Web site.