On October 5, 2023, the PCAOB published Chair Erica Williams’ prepared remarks which were delivered at the Board’s Conference on Auditing and Capital Markets in Washington, DC. Chair Williams’ remarks focused on the three pillars of the Board’s five-year strategic plan: modernizing standards, enhancing inspections, and strengthening enforcement activities. Chair Williams highlighted that nearly all of the standards being considered by the PCAOB are “so-called ‘interim standards’” first adopted in 2003 on what was intended to be a temporary basis, and that the Board has issued proposals in five standard-setting projects and one rulemaking project and adopted two new standards and related amendments over the last two years. As to inspections, Chair Williams highlighted the Board’s expanded reach in China and the new features on the PCAOB website to help users compare inspection report data.  Chair Williams also emphasized an expected upward trend from 2021 to 2022 in the number of audit deficiencies identified by PCAOB inspectors, which she characterized as “completely unacceptable,” and “challenged auditors to sharpen their focus and called on audit committees to hold their firms accountable.” Finally, Chair Williams noted that the Board doubled the number of enforcement orders in 2022 and imposed the highest total penalties in PCAOB history.

The full remarks are available here.