CPAs now exempt from Gramm-Leach-Bliley privacy notification requirement.

• Position: National

Congress passed legislation that exempts CPAs from the privacy notification requirement under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act(GLB). The provision contained in the Financial Services Regulatory Relief Act will take effect immediately upon the President's signature.

Passage of the bill means that CPAs will no longer be required to prepare year-end privacy notices to clients. The notices were a redundant requirement because CPAs are licensed by state boards of accountancy. The licensing already makes them subject to state laws and regulations that prohibit disclosure of nonpublic personal information without the...