Sec regs could limit tax services to audit clients.

• Position: News & Trends - Securities and Exchange Commission - Brief Article

The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued proposed regs that could limit the ability of CPA firms to provide tax services to their audit clients.

The regs would revise the SEC's guidelines related to the non-audit services that, if provided to an audit client, would impair an accounting firm's independence.

The regs:

* Define the circumstances whereby an issuers audit committee can and should pre-approve all audit and allowable non-audit services provided to the issuer by the auditor of an issuer's financial statements;

* Prohibit audit engagement team partners from providing audit services to the issuer for more than five consecutive years;

* Prohibit an accounting firm from auditing an issuer's financial statements if certain members of management of that issuer had been members of the accounting firm's audit engagement team within the one-year period preceding the start of audit...