PCAOB Releases Proposal Related to Making False or Misleading Statements About PCAOB Registration or Oversight

The PCAOB recently released a proposed rule that would prohibit registered audit firms from making “false or misleading statements” about their “registration status to clients, potential clients, or the public.” In addition, the proposal would contain a list (not all-inclusive) of possible statements that “would violate” this prohibition. Further, the proposed rule would include a “procedural mechanism” under which the PCAOB would be able, when certain conditions are met, “to (i) treat a PCAOB-registered firm’s failures both to file annual reports to the PCAOB and to pay annual fees to the PCAOB for at least two consecutive reporting years as a constructive request for leave to withdraw from PCAOB registration and (ii) to deem the firm’s registration withdrawn.”

For more information, see the press release on the PCAOB’s Web site.