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Compliance Hotline

By ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |
August 31, 2004

SEC Seeks Comment on Definitions Used by the PCAOB

The Securities and Exchange Commission has published for public comment proposed Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Rule 3101, which sets forth the terminology the PCAOB will use to describe the degree of responsibility that the auditing and related professional practice standards will impose on auditors that conduct engagements pursuant to “the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States).”

The PCAOB proposed Rule 3101 on Oct. 7, 2003 and adopted it on June 9, 2004. The final rule now requires SEC approval. Proposed Rule 3101(a) describes three categories of professional obligations. The first is obligations that are unconditional, which include the use of the words “must,” “shall,” and “is required.” The second is obligations that are presumptively mandatory. The word “should” indicates obligations that are presumptively mandatory. The third category are obligations that are subsidiary to the unconditional or presumptively mandatory obligations. The words “may,” “might,” “could,” or other terms and phrases describe actions and procedures that auditors have a professional obligation to consider.

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