SEC Votes To Prohibit Improper Influence of Auditors — April 28, 2003

At its open meeting this week, the SEC voted to adopt rules prohibiting company officials from improperly influencing auditors of financial statements. The Commission adopted amendments to Regulation 13 (B) 2 that implement Section 303 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The new rules prohibit an issuer’s officers and directors, and persons acting under their direction, from coercing, manipulating, misleading or fraudulently influencing the auditor of the issuer's financial statements, if that person knew or should have known that such action could result in materially misleading financial statements.