The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced that it was initiating proceedings against a former audit partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP for violating professional standards in reviewing the financial statements of Mattel, Inc. One might wonder why it is the SEC, and not the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB or Board), that is taking action against an accountant for failing to properly perform its audits of a public company’s financial statements. After all, the PCAOB was created by Congress after the financial scandals at Enron, World Com, and other public companies, to oversee public company auditors. The legal … Read more