SEC Top Accountant Warns Auditors Are Becoming Less Professional

The SEC’s top accountant worries that declining professionalism among auditors could erode investor confidence in financial reporting, he told academic researchers Thursday.

“One of the things that concerns me with some of the missteps that have been taken by some large firms over the last few years is it seems to indicate a deterioration in the level of professionalism of people in those firms,” Paul Munter, acting chief accountant to the Securities and Exchange Commission said. “And it isn’t just one firm, which worries me that there might be a decline overall in the level of professionalism.”

• Munter has talked ...