Now, let me confess at the outset that I’m not an accountant, although I’ve represented them in my professional career and have great respect for them both as individuals and as an aggregate group.
I am, therefore, going to limit my comments to the concept of the accountant as gatekeeper under the federal securities laws.
As Release 7870 reminds us, the world is changing rapidly
And from that perspective, I note that in its first couple pages Release 7870 starts out by saying that the federal securities laws make the auditor a gatekeeper for public investors.
Now, I would suggest to you that the concept of gatekeeper really refers both in law and economics to a kind of law enforcement strategy that understands that it’s often easier to deter and to police the agent of the corporation rather than the corporation itself or its internal management. Continue reading “That’s something that I do think I understand”