Pursuant to the provisions of Pub. L. 101-181, 101 Stat. 1254, 1255 (15 U.S.C. 78d-1, 78d-2), the Securities and Exchange Commission hereby delegates, until the Commission orders otherwise, the following functions to the Chief Accountant of the Commission, to be performed by the Chief Accountant or under the Chief Accountant's direction by such person or persons as may be designated from time to time by the Chairman of the Commission:

(a) In connection with Commission review of inspection reports of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”) under 15 U.S.C. 7214(h) and §202.140:

(1) To grant or deny review requests and notify the firm and the PCAOB as to whether the Commission will grant the review request under §202.140(d);

(2) To extend the time periods set forth in §202.140(e) within which the PCAOB, registered public accounting firm or an associated person may submit responsive information and documents in connection with a request for Commission review.

(3) To request additional information pursuant to §202.140(e) relating to the PCAOB's assessments or determination under review from the PCAOB, the registered public accounting firm, or any associated person of the firm during the course of an interim review of an inspection report, and to grant the PCAOB, the firm or any associated person a period of up to seven calendar days to respond to any information obtained.

(4) To consider requests for review of inspection reports and, based on such review, to not object to all or part of the assessments or determination of the PCAOB and terminate the stay of publication, or to remand to the PCAOB with instructions that the stay of publication is permanent or that the PCAOB take such other actions as the Chief Accountant deems necessary or appropriate with respect to publication, including, but not limited to, revising the final inspection report or determinations before publication, and to provide the written notice communicating the same to the PCAOB and the registered public accounting firm, consistent with §202.140 of this chapter .

(5) To determine that a timely review request by a firm will not operate as a stay of publication of those portions of the final inspection report or determinations described in §202.140(b) that are the subject of the firm's review request pursuant to §202.140(c)(5), as well as to determine that publication of the remainder of the final inspection report or criticisms or defects in the quality control systems would not be necessary or appropriate pursuant to §202.140(c)(5).

(6) To, in the event the Commission does grant a review request pursuant to §202.140, determine that the stay of publication shall not continue pursuant to §202.140(d).

(7) To, in the event that the review pursuant to §202.140(e) has not been completed and a written notice has not been sent 75 calendar days after notification to the firm and the PCAOB that it is granting the request for an interim review, grant an extension of time under the authority set forth in §202.140(e).

(b)

(1) Pursuant to section 107 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, 15 U.S.C. 7217, and section 19(b) of the Act, 15 U.S.C. 78s(b), and applicable rules of the Commission, to publish notices of proposed rule changes filed by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

(2) Pursuant to section 107 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, 15 U.S.C. 7217, and section 19(b) of the Act, 15 U.S.C. 78s(b), and applicable rules of the Commission, to approve or disapprove a proposed rule change, and to find good cause to approve a proposed rule change earlier than 30 days after the date of publication of such proposed rule change and to publish the reasons for such finding. The Office of the Chief Accountant shall notify the Commission no less than five (5) business days before the Chief Accountant intends to exercise the Chief Accountant's authority to approve or disapprove a particular proposed rule change.

(3) Pursuant to section 107 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, 15 U.S.C. 7217, and section 19(b)(2)(A) of the Act, 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2)(A), to extend for a period not exceeding 90 days from the date of publication of notice of the filing of a proposed rule change pursuant to section 19(b)(1) of the Act, 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1), the period during which the Commission must by order approve or disapprove the proposed rule change or institute proceedings to determine whether the proposed rule change should be disapproved and to determine whether such longer period is appropriate and publish the reasons for such determination.

(4) Pursuant to section 107 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, 15 U.S.C. 7217, section 19(b)(2) of the Act, 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2), and section 19(b)(3) of the Act, 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3), to institute proceedings to determine whether a proposed rule change of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board should be disapproved and to provide to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board notice of the grounds for disapproval under consideration. In addition, pursuant to section 107 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, 15 U.S.C. 7217, and section 19(b)(2)(B) of the Act, 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2)(B), to extend for a period not exceeding 240 days from the date of publication of notice of the filing of a proposed rule change pursuant to section 19(b)(1) of the Act, 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1), the period during which the Commission must issue an order approving or disapproving the proposed rule change and to determine whether such longer period is appropriate and publish the reasons for such determination.

(5) Pursuant to section 107 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, 15 U.S.C. 7217, and section 19(b)(3)(C) of the Act, 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(C), to temporarily suspend a rule of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

(c) To administer the provisions of §240.24c-1 of this chapter; provided that access to nonpublic information as defined in §240.24c-1 shall be provided only with the concurrence of the head of the Commission division or office responsible for such information or the files containing such information.

(d) Notwithstanding anything in paragraphs (a) through (c) of this section , in any case in which the Chief Accountant believes it appropriate, the Chief Accountant may submit the matter to the Commission.

[75 FR 47449, Aug. 6, 2010, as amended at 76 FR 2806, Jan. 18, 2011; 86 FR 9447, Feb. 16, 2021]