The Securities and Exchange Commission’s top accountant warned CPA firms Wednesday to carefully weigh how major restructurings might interfere with US conflict of interest rules.
Paul Munter, acting chief accountant to the SEC, said that firms increasingly have been involved in “complex business arrangements,” calling it a recurring issue that has come up in staff consultations, he wrote in a statement released late Wednesday afternoon.
“Such arrangements have the potential to undermine auditor independence,” Munter said. “We caution firms to carefully consider the implications for auditor independence when considering alternative practice structures” as will the Office of the Chief Accountant, ...