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Paul Atkins, the newly appointed chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, has removed Erica Williams from her role as head of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).  The decision brings an abrupt end to a reform-heavy tenure and marks a clear turn in Washington’s approach to market oversight. Williams, a former SEC lawyer and the first Black woman to lead the PCAOB, confirmed to staff on Tuesday that Atkins had asked her to step down. Her last day will be July 22. Her departure is more than just a change in leadership; it signals the rollback of a regulatory era built on stricter scrutiny of the auditing profession. In her farewell message, Williams didn’t mince words. She defended her push for higher audit standards, stressing that weakening the PCAOB’s authority would make investors more vulnerable at a time when economic uncertainty and corporate risk remain high. “With high economic uncertainty increasing the risk of fraud, the PCAOB’s mission is as important as ever,” she told staff. “It’s critical the expert PCAOB staff continue to be empowered to carry out their work of ensuring American investors are protected.” A regulator who raised the bar When Williams took the reins of the PCAOB in 2022, she championed new, more expansive auditing standards, sharpened the agency’s inspection process, and hit firms with record-setting penalties for misconduct. As tensions grew, industry voices grew louder, calling for the PCAOB to shift back to what they viewed as a more balanced, “collaborative” approach. That pushback soon reached Capitol Hill. Several Republican lawmakers launched efforts to fold the PCAOB into the SEC, essentially gutting the independent watchdog Congress created in 2002 after the Enron and WorldCom scandals shook public confidence in financial markets. While those proposals didn’t make it into the massive financial “big,…

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Filed under: News - @ July 16, 2025 12:28 pm