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The scam well has apparently run dry. Con artists that lack the scope to pull off a Ponzi or boiler room plot are using the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to dupe unsuspecting compliance managers.

A grafter, claiming to be a known FASB staffer, is preying on companies in an attempt to get them to purchase Sarbox compliance books, says the Financial Accounting Foundation, the parent organization of the Financial Accounting Standards Board. According to a FAF official, a handful of public companies received phone calls recently from a bogus salesperson claiming to be the staffer. During the calls, the salesperson insists that companies are obligated, by law, to purchase the Sarbox compliance books that are being offered.

CFO: The Sarbox Scam

A FASB staff member and former KPMG partner, Lawrence W. Smith will begin his new job this summer. His appointment is the first since the SEC demanded more say in how FASB candidates are chosen.

Lawrence W. Smith, a 25-year veteran of KPMG, has been appointed to the Financial Accounting Standards Board to replace outgoing member Edward Trott.

He will serve a five-year term beginning July 1. Trott is retiring after seven and a half years with the board on June 30. Smith has been a member of the FASB staff for nearly five years. He is the director of technical application and implementation activities and chairman of the Emerging Issues Task Force.

The Financial Accounting Foundation announced Smith’s appointment on the heels of controversy surrounding FASB’s independence from the Securities and Exchange Commission. As reported by CFO.com, the SEC’s Office of the Chief Accountant recently refused to sign off on FASB’s 2007 budget until FAF, its parent organization, gave the SEC more say in the appointment of FASB members and FAF trustees.

In a March 9 memo to the SEC, the FAF agreed to a new process for the SEC to review FASB and FAF candidates. The memo stipulates that the SEC has the power to nominate and interview candidates. The SEC officially certified the FASB’s budget on March 14, a job it was given under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act when FASB’s funding source was switched from audit firms to fees from publicly-listed companies.

CFO.com: FASB Announces Trott’s Replacement

The Securities and Exchange Commission can now nominate its own candidates for the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

Under an agreement between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the parent foundation of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the SEC will have more authority over the appointment of members of the private board, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

In a two-page memo sent to the SEC on March 9, FASB’s parent unit, the Financial Accounting Foundation, agreed with the commission that the FAF and FASB should generally notify the SEC 45 days before but no less than 30 days before the FAF nominates foundation or FASB members, according to the newspaper. The foundation also reportedly agreed to follow a set schedule for telling the SEC about potential appointments and reappointments to FASB and to the FAF board.

FAF also signed off on giving the SEC the chance to nominate its own candidates and to notify the SEC of finalists for any position, according to the Journal story. The agreement will also allow commissioners to interview nominees, the newspaper reported, citing a copy of the memo provided to it by FAF.

CFO.com: Report: SEC Grabs More Power over FASB