In a recent national survey of CFOs and senior comptrollers conducted by Grant Thornton, over 75% of respondents said the SEC should revise Form 8-K rules to require reasons for all company dismissals of auditors, for all auditor resignations, and for all instances in which the auditor chooses not to stand for reappointment. The results suggest that CFOs feel auditors resign or are terminated for reasons that investors should know about but for which no disclosure is required. The crux of the current 8-K rules if an auditor resigns or is dismissed require that all disagreements between the auditor and the company be disclosed.
The complete survey follows. Note the split response to the last question.
Do you believe the roles of CEO and chairman of the board should be independent of each other?
Yes 78.73 %
No 20.81 %
Should the SEC revise 8-K rules to require reasons for all company dismissals of auditors, for all auditor resignations and for all instances in which the auditor chooses not to stand for reappointment?
Yes 75.57 %
No 21.72 %
Do you believe shareholders in public companies should have greater access to the proxy?
Yes 66.06 %
No 29.86 %
Do you believe that small cap companies who test internal controls (according to Sarbanes-Oxley) will be looked upon more favorably by investors than those who do not test internal controls?
Yes 68.78 %
No 29.41 %
Do you consider the newly issued guidance (AS 5) from the SEC on internal controls and the new audit standard for auditing internal controls to be a significant improvement over previous rules?
Yes 43.89 %
No 47.96 %
