PCAOB, The (A)

Members of the Public Co. Accounting Oversight Board--a private-sector, nonprofit body created by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002--must determine the form and content of a new auditing standard on internal control that will fulfill the requirements of Section 404 of the act. After receiving comments from issuers, investors, and accounting firms, board members contemplate the necessary scope of an audit engagement to evaluate the effectiveness of internal controls and restore investors' confidence in financial reporting. Gives students an opportunity to consider the role of external regulation and self-regulation and such issues as the difficulties of cost-benefit analysis for proposed regulations, the relation between rules and discretion, the differences between investor and executive perspectives, and the apportionment of responsibilities among management, internal auditors, and external auditors.