Volume 1, Issue 4

September 2007

I. Public Members Named to CAQ's Governing Board

On September 13, the CAQ announced the appointment of three independent members to its Governing Board. The new members are: Harvey J. Goldschmid, former U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission commissioner; Michele J. Hooper, co-founder of the Director's Council; and Lynn S. Paine, professor of business administration at the Harvard School of Business.

With diverse backgrounds in law, government, business and academia, Paine, Hooper and Goldschmid will bring an outside perspective to the CAQ's Governing Board and reaffirm the Center's commitment to the concept that a robust public company auditing profession is fundamental to investor confidence in the capital markets.

"We are excited to have the collective background and expertise of these new board members added to the Center for Audit Quality, and look forward to the increased vibrancy of discussion their outside viewpoints will bring," said Cindy Fornelli, executive director of the CAQ.

The CAQ's board also includes the chief executives from the public company auditing profession and the American Institute of CPAs.
View the press release here.

II. CAQ Hosts Webcast with PCAOB on Auditing Standard No. 5

On October 4, the CAQ will host its first live, interactive, Webcast for auditors of smaller public companies. The discussion will focus on the implementation of the PCAOB's Auditing Standard No. 5 (AS 5) in advance of the deadline for thousands of smaller public companies to comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Cindy Fornelli will moderate the informational session, featuring PCAOB Chief Auditor and Director of Professional Standards, Tom Ray, and PCAOB Director of Technical Policy Implementation, Sharon Virag. Trent Gazzaway, audit partner and partner-in-charge of corporate governance at Grant Thornton LLP, will round out the panel from the profession's perspective. Read more about the Webcast here.

III. Exploring the Future of Business Reporting: The CAQ's Public Dialogue Tour continues

With public dialogue events in Denver, Charlotte, Minneapolis and Seattle already complete, the CAQ will continue its national tour in Chicago on October 12. Executive-level business, investor, policy and academic leaders from the Chicago area will gather for a breakfast at The Chicago Club. Terence Smith, special correspondent for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, will facilitate the discussion focused on generating ideas on ways in which the quality, transparency, and relevance of business information can be improved.

Charlie Bobrinskoy, Vice Chairman & Director of Research, Ariel Capital Management, Edward Liddy, Chairman, The Allstate Corporation, Illinois State Attorney General Lisa Madigan and David Ruder, Dean, Northwestern University School of Law, and former Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission will be the featured panelists for the Chicago event. Special guests include CAQ Governing Board Members Chuck Allen, chief executive officer, Crowe Chizek and Company, and Tim Flynn, chief executive officer, KPMG.

The Center for Audit Quality's nationwide series of dialogues will inform forthcoming CAQ recommendations on modernizing public company reporting for the benefit of investors and the capital markets. See video from previous tour events.

The Center for Audit Quality has developed this monthly newsletter, designed to keep you up to date each month on ways the organization is addressing the topic of modernizing business reporting and other critical information issues facing investors, issuers, company executives and the public company auditing profession.