US Audit Watchdog Enters Uncertain New Era as SEC Changes Hands

The US board charged with keeping watch over the quality of US audits is poised for a radical change in the political pendulum.

Erica Williams has been an aggressive enforcer of the audit industry since she was tapped by the Biden administration to take the helm of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board nearly three years ago and has defiantly touted her record holding auditors to a higher bar.

Paul Atkins, picked by the incoming Trump administration to run the Securities and Exchange Commission that oversees the PCAOB, has a track record indicating he’d take a much lighter touch to ...