"Center for Public Company Audit Firms"--the New SECPS.

• Position: Disciplinary actions - Securities and Exchange Commission Practice Section - Brief Article

As a result of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and establishment of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, the AICPA's SEC Practice Section's historical self-regulatory obligations were dissolved. The PCAOB has assumed responsibility for registering, inspecting, disciplining and setting standards for CPA firms that audit the financial statements of SEC "issuers."

However, SECPS member firms made it clear that the AICPA should play an important role for them in the new regulatory environment by representing public company audit firms before the SEC and PCAOB, keeping them abreast of issues, and maintaining a peer review program for the firms' non-issuer practices that enables them to meet their state licensing, federal regulatory and AICPA membership requirements.

To meet members' expectations, effective Jan. 1 the SECPS was restructured and replaced with the Center for Public Company Audit Firms. The Center is designed to:

* Provide a forum for firms to express views on technical and regulatory matters involving public company auditing.

* Enhance the quality of member firms' public company audit practices...