Munter Named SEC Chief Accountant After Two Years at Helm

Paul Munter, the official who triggered hundreds of SPAC restatements and forced companies to list customer crypto assets on their balance sheets, has been named permanent chief accountant to the SEC, the agency said Wednesday.

Munter has served as acting chief accountant to the Securities and Exchange Commission since January 2021 when he was tapped to fill the role during the Biden administration transition. Despite acting in an interim capacity, Munter has been a consequential overseer of corporate accounting and auditing, opining on the professionalism of auditors, backing quicker updates to US accounting standards, and engaging with international regulators on sustainability reporting standards.

“I’ve valued Paul’s counsel, judgment, and clear accounting advice in his service as Acting Chief Accountant, and I thank him for continuing in the role as Chief Accountant,” SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in a statement.

Munter brings broad experience to the post. Until he took on the interim chief accountant role, he ran point on the commission’s international accounting work. He retired from KPMG LLP, where he was the lead technical partner for international accounting standards. He is also known as an academic who has taught accounting at the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Miami.