PCAOB enters into arrangement with Australian securities panel

WASHINGTON, July 16, 2007 – The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has entered into a "statement of protocol" with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to enhance cooperation in the supervisory oversight of auditors and public accounting firms that practice in the two regulators’ respective jurisdictions.

PCAOB Chairman Mark Olson welcomed the arrangement, which will lay the foundation for the PCAOB and ASIC to work together in fulfilling their mandates as auditor oversight bodies.

“The PCAOB strongly believes that dialogue and cooperation among auditor oversight bodies are critical to every regulator’s ability to meet the challenges that come with the increasingly global capital markets," Olson said. "The statement of protocol will allow the PCAOB and ASIC to work closely together in the oversight of public accounting firms and auditors in the United States and in Australia, and serves as another successful example of cross-border cooperation between the PCAOB and its counterparts abroad.”

Rhonda Schnare, the PCAOB's director of International Affairs, added, “The statement of protocol with Australia is an important and positive step with one of our most important partners. Expanding the PCAOB’s international program is a top priority for the organization, and we are currently working with other oversight bodies in several non-U.S. jurisdictions to establish cooperative arrangements.”

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act directs the PCAOB to oversee and periodically inspect all accounting firms that regularly audit U.S. public companies. More than 780 audit firms currently registered with the PCAOB are located outside of the United States, spanning more than 80 countries. Almost 40 of these firms are located in Australia.

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