McHenry, Huizenga Request Testimony of PCAOB Chair Williams and Acting SEC Chief Accountant Munter at Hearing on Accounting Standards

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McHenry, Huizenga Request Testimony of PCAOB Chair Williams and Acting SEC Chief Accountant Munter at Hearing on Accounting Standards
Republican Leaders also demand Chair Waters convene a full Committee hearing with SEC Chair Gensler

Washington, Sep 2 -

Today, the top Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, Patrick McHenry (NC-10), and the top Republican on the Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship, and Capital Markets, Bill Huizenga (MI-02), sent two letters regarding witnesses for next week’s hearing, entitled “Accounting Standards in the 21^st Century.”

In a letter to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), the Republican Leaders invited PCAOB Chair Erica Williams to testify at next week’s hearing given her role with primary oversight of the public company accounting industry.

In a separate letter to Chairwoman Maxine Waters (CA-43), the Republican Leaders urge her to invite Acting Chief Accountant of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Paul Munter, to testify at next week’s hearing. The letter also demands Chairwoman Waters invite SEC Chair Gary Gensler to testify before the full Committee this month.

Given their critical roles, any hearing on accounting standards without the testimony of Chair Williams and Mr. Munter would be incomplete and unproductive.

Read the full letter to PCAOB Chair Williams here or below:

“Dear Chair Williams:

“On September 8, 2022, at 12:00pm EST the Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets will hold a hearing entitled, ‘Accounting Standards in the 21st Century.’ Given the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s (PCAOB) primary responsibilities to oversee the public company accounting industry, we invite you to testify as our witness at next week’s hearing. Your testimony, particularly as it relates to your responsibility to establish certain standards relating to public company audits and inspecting registered accounting firms, is critical to understanding the current environment.

“In January 2020, this subcommittee held an accounting standard setters oversight hearing in which both the PCAOB Chair and Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Chair testified. In light of this precedent, any accounting-focused hearing without the PCAOB’s presence is incomplete and unproductive. Moreover, the subcommittee should hear directly from you about recent developments to allow PCAOB inspectors to inspect audit firms based in China as well as the Board’s standard-setting agenda.

“Please provide a written response to this invitation no later than September 6, 2022. Thank you for your attention to this request and I look forward to hearing your updates on ongoing PCAOB efforts and initiatives.”

Read the full letter to Acting SEC Chief Accountant Munter here or below:

“Dear Chairwoman Waters:

“We write to respectfully request that you invite Acting Chief Accountant of the Securities and Exchange Commission (‘SEC’), Paul Munter, to testify before the Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets at the September 8, 2022, hearing entitled, ‘Accounting Standards in the 21st Century.’ Given his important role in this space, any hearing on accounting standards would be meaningless without Mr. Munter’s testimony.

“Moreover, under Mr. Munter’s leadership, the Office of the Chief Accountant has taken several actions we find deeply concerning. As you know, on Monday, Mr. Munter released a statement that suggests a desire to rely on auditor independence rules to interfere with business decisions by accounting firms. This statement is concerning enough, on its own, to warrant Mr. Munter’s testimony. Likewise, we believe Mr. Munter should respond to Staff Accounting Bulletin 121, which has been described by Commissioner Peirce as a ‘scattershot and inefficient approach to crypto.’ As such, we urge you to invite Mr. Munter to appear at next week’s hearing.

“With these and a range of other actions by the SEC, we also request that you invite SEC Chair Gensler to testify before the full Committee this month. As you know, Chair Gensler has not testified before the Committee since October 2021, and our subsequent requests to you for a hearing featuring the full Commission have gone unanswered. Moreover, Chair Gensler is likely to testify before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs this month. The rapid pace of aggressive rulemakings, the troubling pattern of short comment periods for multiple outstanding proposals, and the use of regulation by enforcement for digital assets necessitate Chair Gensler’s appearance before the Committee.

“Thank you for your attention to our request and we look forward to working with you.”

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