On January 25, 2023, Senators Warren and Wyden wrote PCAOB Chair Erica Williams to express concern regarding the PCAOB’s authority relating to inspection and enforcement of audits of Crypto companies. The letter responds to reported statements by Chair Williams at a conference in November that the “PCAOB only has jurisdiction over the audits of public companies and broker dealers” and that “PCAOB-registered firms only have to follow PCAOB standards and rules when they’re auditing a public issuer or broker dealer under our jurisdiction, not for any other clients.” According to the senators, the latter statement appears inconsistent with PCAOB Rules 3100 and 3200, which the senators assert require registered firms to comply with PCAOB standards in connection with the preparation of any audit report and are “not restricted solely to public companies.” The senators seek a response to various questions by February 8.

A copy of the letter is attached.