Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises.
Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002 - Establishes the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board to impose sanctions upon registered public accounting firms and their associated persons. Authorizes sanctions for failure to supervise. Grants the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) oversight of the Board, including general modification and rescission of Board authority. Amends the Securities Act of 1933 to authorize the SEC to recognize, as "generally accepted" for purposes of the securities laws, accounting principles established by a standard setting body. Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to prohibit a public accounting firm from performing certain non-audit services contemporaneously with a mandatory audit. Mandates audit partner rotation on a five-year basis. Prohibits a public accounting firm from performing statutorily mandated audit services if its senior executives were employed by the issuer and participated in the audit of such issuer during the one-year period preceding the audit date. Vests the audit committee of an issuer with oversight authority over any public accounting firm performing audit services. Requires a chief executive officer and chief financial officer to: (1) certify the veracity of mandatory financial statements; and (2) forfeit certain bonuses and compensation received following an accounting restatement owing to noncompliance with securities laws. Prohibits insider trades during pension fund blackout periods. Mandates enhanced disclosure of: (1) material off-balance sheet transactions and relationships; (2) pro forma financial information that is not misleading, and that is reconciled with generally accepted accounting principles; and (3) loans and loan guarantees made to senior executives. Reduces the mandatory period for disclosure of changes in ownership of securities or security-based swap agreements by certain principal stockholders. Mandates SEC rules governing analyst conflicts of interest.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on July 9, 2002. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on August 19, 2002: Referred to the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 107th Congress (2001-02), 377 of the 9,126 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.1 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
JOHN LAFALCE (D-NY) introduced it on July 9, 2002, and 6 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 6 Democrats.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on July 9, 2002, 8877 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 8836 days ago, on August 19, 2002.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 107th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2003 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers