PCAOB sets members and meeting dates for new advisory groups
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board named the members Monday of its two new advisory groups, the Investor Advisory Group (IAG) and the Standards and Emerging Issues Advisory Group (SEIAG), and scheduled their initial meeting dates.
The selection of the members came after the PCAOB started a nomination process in January. These will be the first meetings of outside advisory groups for the PCAOB since 2018. The board had come under criticism for limiting its interactions with outside stakeholders, including its former Investor Advisory Group and Standing Advisory Group. That was one factor that led to a shakeup at the PCAOB last year, when the chair and three other members were replaced by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Standing Advisory Group has been renamed the Standards and Emerging Issues Advisory Group and has an expanded charter.
“We are very grateful to the individuals who have stepped forward to serve on our advisory groups,” said the PCAOB’s new chair, Erica Y. Williams, in a statement. “The extraordinary expertise, experience and perspective of the members of both these advisory groups will aid us immensely as we pursue our mission to protect investors and further the public interest.”
Courtesy of PCAOB
The PCAOB also announced the inaugural meetings of both the IAG and SEIAG. The first public meeting of the IAG is scheduled for Wednesday, June 8. The first public meeting of the SEIAG is scheduled for Wednesday, June 15.
The advisory group members’ service starts right away. Information about the operation of these groups can be found in respective charters for the IAG and the SEIAG, which the PCAOB approved in March 2022.
PCAOB board Member Kara M. Stein, a former SEC commissioner, has been appointed to serve as the acting IAG co-chair, while the PCAOB is actively looking for an Investor Advocate position for the group. The Investor Advocate, once hired, would serve as the IAG’s board-appointed co-chair. Barbara Vanich, acting chief auditor of the PCAOB, will also function as chair of the SEIAG, according to the terms of the charter.
“Kara’s experience as an SEC Commissioner, where she advocated for strong investor protections and rules that put investors first, will serve the IAG well until we fill the Investor Advocate position,” Williams said in a statement.
There is some overlap among the members, including former SEC chief accountant Lynn Turner and CFA Institute head of financial reporting policy Sandra Peters joining both groups, as are Council of Institutional Investors general counsel Jeffrey Mahoney and University of Delaware accounting professor Jennifer Joe.
The PCAOB selected the following members of the Investor Advisory Group, with terms expiring Dec. 31, 2023: James Andrus, Mary M. Bersot, Jack T. Ciesielski, Jennifer R. Joe, Christine O’Brien, Sanford Rich, Gina Sanchez, R. Harold (Hal) Schroeder and Lynn Turner, and — with terms expiring Dec. 31, 2024 — Alicia Damley, Parveen P. Gupta, Jeffrey P. Mahoney, Amy Copeland McGarrity, Sandra J. Peters, David Pitt-Watson, Nemit Shroff, Ashwinpaul (Tony) C. Sondhi and Gary G. Walsh.
The Standards and Emerging Issues Advisory Group members, with terms expiring Dec. 31, 2023, include Christine Davine, Susan O. DuRoss, David Fabricant, James (Jim) Hunt, Jennifer R. Joe, Josh Jones, Melanie Senter Lubin, Steven Morrison, Dane Mott, Diane Rubin, Kecia Williams Smith and Lynn Turner, and with terms expiring Dec. 31, 2024, John Bendl, Preeti Choudhary, Brian T. Croteau, Ron Edmonds, Margaret Foran, Robert Hirth, Jr., W. Robert Knechel, Sara Lord, Jon Lukomnik, Jeffrey P. Mahoney and Sandra J. Peters.
