SEC Arms US Audit Board With Updated Ethics, Evidence Rules (1)

The SEC on Tuesday approved updates to a trio of rules that set a higher bar for auditors as they vet corporate accounts, revising what are in some cases decades-old standards for today’s digital audits.

The projects update a rulebook largely written by the accounting industry before the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s 2002 creation, advancing the regulator’s efforts to modernize standards that guide auditor reviews of corporate accounts from revenues to cash flows. The Securities and Exchange Commission, which oversees the audit board’s work, voted to finalize the package of rule changes in an open meeting.

One of the ...