Audit Integrity and Job Protection Act

Audit Integrity and Job Protection Act - Amends the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) to deny the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board any authority to require that audits conducted for a particular issuer of securities in accordance with SOX standards be conducted by specific registered public accounting firms, or that such audits be conducted for an issuer by different registered public accounting firms on a rotating basis.

Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to update the November 2003 report, "Study on the Potential Effects of Mandatory Audit Firm Rotation," and review the potential effects (including costs and benefits) of requiring the mandatory rotation of registered public accounting firms.

Requires such update also to study: (1) whether mandatory rotation of registered public accounting firms would mitigate against potential conflicts of interest between registered public accounting firms and issuers; (2) whether such a mandatory rotation would impair audit quality due to the loss of industry or company-specific knowledge gained by a registered public accounting firm through years of experience auditing the issuer; and (3) what effect SOX has had upon registered public accounting firms' independence, and whether additional independence reforms are needed.

[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1564 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1564

To amend the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to prohibit the Public Company 
   Accounting Oversight Board from requiring public companies to use 
    specific auditors or require the use of different auditors on a 
                            rotating basis.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 15, 2013

  Mr. Hurt (for himself and Mr. Meeks) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to prohibit the Public Company 
   Accounting Oversight Board from requiring public companies to use 
    specific auditors or require the use of different auditors on a 
                            rotating basis.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Audit Integrity and Job Protection 
Act''.

SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY RELATING TO AUDITORS.

    Section 103 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (15 U.S.C. 7213) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Limitation on Authority.--The Board shall have no authority 
under this title to require that audits conducted for a particular 
issuer in accordance with the standards set forth under this section be 
conducted by specific auditors, or that such audits be conducted for an 
issuer by different auditors on a rotating basis.''.
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