This is my third new post about new proposed audit committee duties and responsibilities relating to the evaluation and retention of the external auditor, and the audit committee’s evaluation of the external auditor’s qualifications. It looks like these changes, or some of them, will occur. And they will be game changers.

Audit committee members will have more specific required duties in these areas, and audit committees and external auditors will be even more under the spotlight. These changes would require more specific audit committee oversight of the external auditor, they will change the relationship between the audit committee and the external auditor, and they may force the external auditor to perform better audits, and to provide better services (I say “force” but in fact this also creates good opportunities for auditors who embrace the changes and want to highlight the quality and extent of their services).

Here is a link to the SEC website page, and the following link is to the SEC Concept Release: SEC Concept Release on Audit Committee Disclosures About External Auditor.  Enjoy.

Dave Tate, Esq. (San Francisco / California)