PCAOB Enforcement Transparency Act of 2023

The PCAOB Enforcement Transparency Act of 2023 (S 865) requires the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) to hold enforcement hearings in public by default, affecting public accounting firms and auditors under PCAOB oversight. It amends the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to mandate that hearings be open to the public unless the PCAOB specifically orders them closed. The bill removes language allowing automatic stays on sanctions during proceedings and clarifies that public access applies once any sanction stay ends. This change increases transparency in PCAOB enforcement actions without altering the board’s authority to close hearings in specific cases.