Has the PCAOB been involved with discussions with its international counterpart, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB)?
Gradison: Yes. Most directly, we are involved and active in the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators, a relatively new organization made up of organizations like the PCAOB, which are independent from the profession and who in general register and inspect auditors. A number of countries are following the lead of the United States in creating organizations with objectives similar to those of the PCAOB. The European Union has passed its Eighth Company Law directive requiring each of its 27 countries to create such oversight entities. Not that they have or will have 27 varieties, but we’re working very closely with them. We had a meeting in Washington, D.C., earlier this year where we invited the PCAOB’s international counterparts that wished to share experiences. Canada, the U.K., and other countries are well along in this area. The PCAOB is evaluating these foreign entities on a bilateral basis—one country at a time—for the degree of reliance that can be placed upon the in
