As part of the effort to remake the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), the U.S. audit regulator’s board is being replaced and its budget is likely to be cut.
On Tuesday, the resignation of PCAOB chair, Erica Williams, officially took effect. Existing board member George Botic took over as acting chair.
Now, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is responsible for appointing the members and chair of the PCAOB, is also seeking to replace the existing board.
In a statement Wednesday, SEC chair Paul Atkins issued a call for candidates for all five of the PCAOB board positions, including the chair.
Each board seat is for a set five-year term. The replacements will serve the remainder of terms that are due to expire starting in October 2026, then in 2027, 2028 and 2029. One appointee will serve out a term that is slated to expire in October of this year, and then be reappointed to a term that ends in October 2030.
Along with the turnover at the top of the agency, Atkins signalled that the PCAOB’s budget will likely be cut too.
In his statement, he said the agency’s budget has grown faster than the SEC’s in recent years.
“This increase took place over a period in which the board’s mission did not change materially,” he said.
The SEC is responsible for approving that budget, and Atkins said the compensation of board members will be reviewed as part of the approval process for its 2026 budget.
Applications for the board positions are due Aug. 25.
“I strongly encourage applications from candidates interested in furthering the public interest through the efficient stewardship of PCAOB resources,” Atkins said. “PCAOB board members play an important role in serving the public interest by helping to protect the integrity of public markets in a manner that minimizes unnecessary costs for the public companies, brokers, and dealers who ultimately fund the PCAOB’s budget.”
There’s been a push to eliminate the PCAOB and to hand its role to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under President Donald Trump’s administration. A provision to eliminate the agency’s funding was included in an early version of this year’s massive U.S. budget bill, but removed in the final version.
The agency was established in the wake of the Enron scandal to restore investor confidence in companies’ financial disclosures.