U.S. Audit Board to Wrap up Supervision Rule by Year End

The U.S. audit regulator aims to finalize this year rule changes that would require more intensive supervision of third-party accounting firms, potentially wrapping up a major project that has been years in the making.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board provided an update on the project’s timing in its annual report released Thursday. Firms panned the board’s latest proposal—issued last fall—for putting too much responsibility on the shoulders of U.S. auditors and for not aligning closely enough with recently-issued international rules.

• Among the board’s major projects, the rule changes languished following an overhaul of the board’s leadership in 2017.