The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board said Tuesday that board member J. Robert Brown Jr. will be leaving the PCAOB at the end of this month, the latest in a string of high-profile departures in recent years.
Brown was sworn in on Feb. 1, 2018, part of a wave of new board members who were appointed by the Securities and Exchange Commission after William Duhnke III was named PCAOB chairman in Dec. 2017, promising a new approach and strategy at the board. He took over a partial term from one of the former board members, and his term was set to expire on Oct. 24, 2021.
Brown was part of a set of four new board members, plus Duhnke, although two of them, Kathleen Hamm and James Kaiser, have since left as well (
Many other high-ranking officials at the PCAOB have also departed in the past three years. Hamm was replaced by former White House aide Rebekah Goshorn Jurata, and Kaiser by PCAOB chief auditor Megan Zietsman.
Prior to the new board, some former board members had served two consecutive five-year terms at the PCAOB or were re-appointed to a second term. The job is much sought after for its relatively high pay for a federal government job at $550,000 per year for regular board members, and $670,000 for the chairman.
Brown at times clashed with his fellow board members. Last October, he released a
However, Brown seems to be leaving on good terms, releasing a
“We appreciate Jay’s service to the PCAOB and his efforts to advance audit quality,” said Duhnke in a statement. “We wish him all the best.”
“It was a great honor and privilege to serve on the Board and to work alongside the PCAOB’s talented and devoted staff,” Brown said in a statement. “The PCAOB has the opportunity to serve as a catalyst for the evolution of the audit process to ensure that it better meets the needs and interests of investors and the public.”
During his term, Brown chaired the Investor and Other Stakeholders Working Group of the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators, which aims to advance investors’ views in the international regulatory community.
Before joining the PCAOB, Brown was a law professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and served as the Secretary to the SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee.
“Today, I announced my intention to conclude my tenure at the PCAOB,” said Brown in his statement. “I am grateful to the Commission for this appointment and to the nearly 800 talented and dedicated staff of the PCAOB who work to oversee the audits of public companies and broker-dealers. During my tenure on the Board, I have called for increased transparency and public accountability at the PCAOB in order to enhance investor trust and confidence in the capital markets.”
He cited several of his policy priorities, which included renewing the PCAOB’s Investor Advisory Group and publishing the calendars and meetings by board members with third parties, including audit firms. The PCAOB has been criticized for suspending meetings of its Investor Advisory Group and Standing Advisory Group in recent years and for not being more open about its activities.
