Some Accuse SEC of Pushing Accounting Board, Tilting to Business in Rules Process

Complaints are rising that the Securities and Exchange Commission is muscling an accounting oversight board in a tilt toward business interests as the two agencies fashion rules for public companies and auditors under a landmark anti-fraud law.

In recent months the SEC and the independent board that supervises the accounting industry have taken differing approaches toward the key part of the Sarbanes-Oxley law that arose from the 2002 corporate scandals: the requirement for companies to assess the strength of their internal financial controls and to fix any problems.

SEC Chairman Christopher Cox urged, in a letter to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board last fall, that it revise its rules for outside accountants under the requirement to adapt them to the size of the company whose books are being audited.

[1] Yahoo!:SEC Accused of Muscling Accounting Board