Bloomberg Tax published my article, 2019 SEC and PCAOB Enforcement Actions—Auditor Independence, which summarizes several recent settlement agreements involving violations of auditor independence between audit firms and associated persons and either the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).
The article uses a question and answer format to highlight which rules were breached, what happened, the sanctions imposed, and in some cases, why the regulator concluded as it did. In most of the settlements, the SEC or PCAOB concluded that the firm's quality control over independence was deficient, often requiring the firm to take corrective actions, which is also discussed.
Note: PDF version of the article appears below.