IB 

Union Calendar No. 103 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1564 

[Report No. 113–142] 

To amend the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to prohibit the Public Company 

Accounting Oversight Board from requiring public companies to use 

specific auditors or require the use of different auditors on a rotating 

basis. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 15, 2013 

Mr. HURT (for himself and Mr. MEEKS) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

JULY 8, 2013 

Additional sponsors: Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. ROSS, Mr. 

MULVANEY, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. STIVERS, Mr. GARRETT, Mr. LUETKEMEYER, Mr. MURPHY of Florida, Ms. MOORE, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, and Mr. PETERS of Michigan 

JULY 8, 2013 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 


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•HR 1564 RH

A BILL 

To amend the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to prohibit the 

Public Company Accounting Oversight Board from requiring public companies to use specific auditors or require the use of different auditors on a rotating basis. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
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•HR 1564 RH

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Audit Integrity and 

5 Job Protection Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY RELATING TO AUDI7 TORS. 

8 Section 103 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (15 

9 U.S.C. 7213) is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(e) LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY.—The Board shall 

12 have no authority under this title to require that audits 

13 conducted for a particular issuer in accordance with the 

14 standards set forth under this section be conducted by spe15 cific auditors, or that such audits be conducted for an 

16 issuer by different auditors on a rotating basis.’’. 

17 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

18 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Audit Integrity and Job 

19 Protection Act’’. 

20 SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY RELATING TO AUDI21 TORS. 

22 Section 103 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (15 

23 U.S.C. 7213) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(e) LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY.—The Board shall 

25 have no authority under this title to require that audits 


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1 conducted for a particular issuer in accordance with the 

2 standards set forth under this section be conducted by spe3 cific auditors, or that such audits be conducted for an issuer 

4 by different auditors on a rotating basis.’’. 

5 SEC. 3. STUDY OF MANDATORY ROTATION OF REGISTERED 

6 PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRMS. 

7 (a) STUDY AND REVIEW REQUIRED.—The Comptroller 

8 General of the United States shall update its November 

9 2003 report entitled ‘‘Study on the Potential Effects of 

10 Mandatory Audit Firm Rotation’’, and review the potential 

11 effects, including the costs and benefits, of requiring the 

12 mandatory rotation of registered public accounting firms. 

13 In addition, the update shall include a study of— 

14 (1) whether mandatory rotation of registered 

15 public accounting firms would mitigate against po16 tential conflicts of interest between public accounting 

17 firms and issuers; 

18 (2) whether mandatory rotation of registered 

19 public accounting firms would impair audit quality 

20 due to the loss of loss of industry or company-specific 

21 knowledge gained by a public accounting firm 

22 through years of experience auditing the issuer; and 

23 (3) what affect the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 

24 has had on registered public accounting firms’ indeVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:16 Jul 08, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1564.RH H1564

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1 pendence and whether additional independence re2 forms are needed. 

3 (b) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 1 year after 

4 the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

5 shall submit a report to the Committee on Banking, Hous6 ing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 

7 on Financial Services of the House of Representatives on 

8 the results of the study and review required by this section. 

9 (c) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the 

10 term ‘‘mandatory rotation’’ refers to the imposition of a 

11 limit on the period of years in which a particular registered 

12 public accounting firm may be the auditor of record for 

13 a particular issuer. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 103 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1564 

[Report No. 113–142] 

A BILL 

To amend the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to proauditors on a rotating basis. specific auditors or require the use of different Board from requiring public companies to use hibit the Public Company Accounting Oversight 

JULY 8, 2013 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS