Is your CPA firm PCAOB registered?                

When do you have to comply with the ACT?

Get ready… the reprieve is over!

Until now, privately owned (non-public) broker/dealers have been exempt from The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which required broker/dealers to use a CPA firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).  The SEC had been delaying this requirement for non-public broker/dealers through a series of temporary exemptions, but has now let the exemptions expire.  All privately owned broker/dealers with fiscal years ending after December 31, 2008 who are not currently using a firm registered with the PCAOB will now have to switch to a PCAOB registered firm to be able to file audited financial statements with the SEC.  It is not anticipated that the SEC will delay this implementation any further.

Additionally, the chairman of the House Capital Markets subcommittee may introduce legislation to empower the PCAOB to have more oversight responsibility of public accounting firms that audit privately owned broker/dealers.  This legislation would be an attempt to close certain technical loopholes in the Act.  In light of current criticism of the lax regulation of capital markets by the SEC, this legislation may quickly be enacted.

Asher & Company, Ltd. has been registered with the PCAOB since 2003 and successfully completed a PCAOB inspection in 2007.  Click here  to view a copy of this inspection report on the PCAOB website.

Asher & Company, Ltd. is committed to serving the financial needs of the privately owned broker/dealer industry.

Please contact David L. Powers for more information.