Securities and Exchange Commission January 18, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Securities and Exchange Commission is amending its rules to delegate authority to the Chief Accountant with respect to proposed rule changes of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board pursuant to Section 107 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and Section 19(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as follows: To publish notices of proposed rule changes filed by the PCAOB; to approve or disapprove a proposed rule change; and to temporarily suspend a proposed rule of the PCAOB. In addition, the Commission is amending its rules to delegate authority to the Chief Accountant to determine the appropriateness of extending the time periods specified in Section 19(b) and publish the reasons for such determination as well as to effect any such extension and to institute proceedings to determine whether to disapprove a proposal and to provide to the PCAOB notice of the grounds for disapproval under consideration, and to find good cause to approve a proposal on an accelerated basis and to publish the reasons for such determination. This delegation is intended to conserve Commission resources and to maintain the effectiveness and efficiency of the Commission's PCAOB proposed rule filing process.