Publications

Proposed Public Accounting Ethics and Independence Rules

Spring 2005
Private Equity Developments - Spring 2005

On December 14, 2004, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or the PCAOB, pursuant to the authority granted to it under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, proposed rules which, among other things, would treat a company's outside auditors as not being independent if such auditors or their affiliates during the relevant engagement period provided:

• tax services to officers of the company or its affiliates with financial oversight roles;
  
• a service or product to the company or its affiliates for a contingent fee or commission; or
  
• services related to tax planning or providing an opinion on the tax treatment of certain prohibited transactions or aggressive tax positions taken by the company or its affiliates.