US Supreme Court ruling on PCAOB
29 Jun 2010
The United States Supreme Court has issued its Decision in the Constitutional challenge to legitimacy of the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).
For background on the challenge, see the IAS Plus News Story of 4 Dec 2009. The PCAOB was created by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The Supreme Court held that an aspect of the PCAOB structure under the Act – the 'dual for-cause limitations on the removal of Board members' – 'contravene the Constitution's separation of powers'. The Court also held that 'the unconstitutional tenure provisions are severable from the remainder of the statute'.
Click for Supreme Court decision documentation (PDF 714k).