[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 222 (Monday, November 18, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69577-69578]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-29310]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION


Sunshine Act Meetings

Federal Register Citation of Previous Announcement: (67 FR 68702, 
November 12, 2002).

Status: Closed meeting.

Place: 450 Fifth Street, NW., Washington, DC.

Announcement of Meetings: Additional meetings.
    The Securities and Exchange Commission held a closed meeting on 
Tuesday, November 12, 2002. The subject matter of that meeting was a 
regulatory matter bearing enforcement implications.
    The Commission will hold an open meeting on Tuesday, November 19, 
2002, at 2 p.m., in Room 1C30, the William O. Douglas Room.
    Commissioner Glassman, as duty officer, determined that no earlier 
notice thereof was possible.
    The Commission will also hold a closed meeting on Wednesday, 
November 20, 2002, at 10 a.m.
    Commissioners, Counsel to the Commissioners, the Secretary to the 
Commission, and recording secretaries will attend the closed meetings. 
Certain staff members who have an interest in the matters may also be 
present.
    The General Counsel of the Commission, or his designee, has 
certified that, in his opinion, one or more of the exemptions set forth 
in 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(5), (7), (9)(A), (9)(B), and (10) and 17 CFR 
200.402(a)(5), (7), 9(i), 9(ii) and (10), permit consideration of the 
scheduled matters at the closed meetings.
    The subject matter of the open meeting scheduled for Tuesday, 
November 19, 2002, at 2 p.m., will be:
    1. The Commission will consider whether to propose amendments to 
implement section 802 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. These proposed 
rules would specify the information that must be retained by auditors 
for a five-year period subsequent to the completion of an audit or 
review of a registrant's financial statements. In particular, the 
proposed rules would specify that auditors should retain workpapers and 
other documents that form the basis of the audit or review and 
memoranda, correspondence, communications, other documents, and records 
(including electronic records), which are created, sent or received in 
connection with the audit or review and contain conclusions, opinions, 
analyses, or financial data related to the audit or review.
    2. The Commission will consider proposing amendments to its 
existing requirements regarding auditor independence to enhance the 
independence of accountants that audit and review financial statements 
and prepare attestation reports filed with the Commission. As directed 
by section 208(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the Commission is 
considering proposing rules to:
    [sbull] Revise its regulations related to the non-audit services 
that, if provided to an audit client, would impair an accounting firm's 
independence;
    [sbull] Require that an issuer's audit committee pre-approve all 
audit and non-audit services provided to the issuer by the auditor of 
an issuer's financial statements;
    [sbull] Prohibit partners on the audit engagement team from 
providing audit services to the issuer for more than five consecutive 
years;
    [sbull] Prohibit an accounting firm from auditing an issuer's 
financial statements if certain members of management of that issuer 
had been members of the accounting firm's audit engagement team within 
the one-year period preceding the commencement of audit procedures;
    [sbull] Require that the auditor of an issuer's financial 
statements report certain matters to the issuer's audit committee, 
including ``critical'' accounting policies used by the issuer; and
    [sbull] Require disclosures to investors of information related to 
the audit and non-audit services provided by, and fees paid by the 
issuer to, the auditor of the issuer's financial statements.
    In addition, under the proposed rules to be considered by the 
Commission, an accountant would not be independent from an audit client 
if any partner, principal or shareholder of the accounting firm who is 
a member of the engagement team received compensation based directly on 
any service provided or sold to that client other than audit, review 
and attest services.
    3. The Commission will consider a recommendation to issue jointly, 
with the Department of the Treasury and the Board of Governors of the 
Federal Reserve System, a report to Congress on applying the anti-money 
laundering requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act to investment 
companies, as required by section 356(c) of the USA Patriot Act. The 
proposed report recommends regulations to apply the requirements of the 
Bank Secrecy Act to investment companies, including certain 
unregistered investment companies.
    The subject matter of the closed meeting scheduled for Wednesday, 
November 20, 2002, at 10 a.m., will be:

Formal orders of investigation;
Institution and settlement of injunctive actions; and
Institution and settlement of administrative proceedings of an 
enforcement nature.

    At times, changes in Commission priorities require alterations in 
the scheduling of meeting items. For further information and to 
ascertain what, if

[[Page 69578]]

any, matters have been added, deleted or postponed, please contact: The 
Office of the Secretary at (202) 942-7070.

    Dated: November 13, 2002.
Jonathan G. Katz,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 02-29310 Filed 11-14-02; 11:44 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-P