SPECIAL THANKS: This exhibit is made possible through the generous support of primary sponsor, Deloitte & Touche, LLP and supporting sponsors David M. Lynn (curator), and Morrison & Foerster, LLP.
At the core of the regulation of corporate disclosure by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is the important role that the agency plays with respect to accounting and financial reporting. Arguably the most material information to any investor, a company’s financial statements provide critical insights into its operating results, cash flows, capital resources and liabilities. The generally accepted accounting standards and specified financial reporting principles that have evolved since 1933 have provided investors with a high degree of confidence in the financial disclosures that serve as the backbone of any SEC report or registration statement.
Central to the SEC’s regulation of financial disclosures has been the SEC’s Chief Accountant, and the staff who serve in the Commission’s Office of Chief Accountant. Since the early days of the SEC, the Commission’s Chief Accountant has been the public face of the SEC’s regulatory responsibilities for accountants, accounting and financial reporting. In addition, a highly qualified staff with qualifications in accounting and financial reporting have worked since the SEC’s earliest days to shape the agency’s regulatory policy and to promote accurate financial reporting prepared in accordance with established principles of accounting. For these reasons, the history of the regulation of accounting and financial reporting at the SEC can best be viewed from the perspective of the SEC’s Chief Accountant.
The following exhibit is a rich collection of primary materials from the Virtual Museum that has been curated to present — primarily through the words and voices of the SEC’s Chief Accountants — a history of the key challenges and major turning points for the public company accounting profession, from the early 1930’s to today. This collection also includes major studies, reports, letters, and testimony that provide additional viewpoints and illumination of the issues, as well as expert programming and oral histories you will only find in the Virtual Museum.
Program
Recorded September 1, 2021 | Edited transcript (PDF)
Moderator: David M. Lynn (Partner at Morrison & Foerster LLP and former Chief Counsel in the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance)
Presenter(s): Paul A. Beswick, EY Americas IFRS Leader and former SEC Chief Accountant Paul Munter, acting SEC Chief Accountant and former SEC Deputy Chief Accountant Joseph B Ucuzoglu, Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte US and former Senior Advisor to the SEC Chief Accountant.
A special program that explores the SEC’s role in the development of financial reporting requirements and accounting standards with several of the Commission’s Chief Accountants and individuals who served in the Office of the Chief Accountant (“OCA”). The program provides perspectives on serving in OCA at the SEC and explores the important role that the office plays in the regulation of financial reporting, accounting standards and auditor independence.
This program was made possible through the generous support of Deloitte & Touche LLP