I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8228 

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

Accounting Oversight Board to the Securities and Exchange Commission, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 2, 2024 

Mr. HUIZENGA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

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

Public Company Accounting Oversight Board to the Securities and Exchange Commission, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Streamlining Public 

5 Company Accounting Oversight Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TRANSFER OF PUBLIC COMPANY ACCOUNTING 

2 OVERSIGHT BOARD TO SECURITIES AND EX3 CHANGE COMMISSION. 

4 (a) GLOBAL AMENDMENTS.—Title I of the Sarbanes5 Oxley Act of 2002 (15 U.S.C. 7211 et seq.) is amended— 

6 (1) in the title heading, by striking ‘‘PUBLIC 

7 COMPANY ACCOUNTING OVERSIGHT 

8 BOARD’’ and inserting ‘‘OFFICE OF PUBLIC 

9 ACCOUNTING OVERSIGHT’’; 

10 (2) by striking ‘‘Public Company Accounting 

11 Oversight Board’’ each place it appears and insert12 ing ‘‘Office of Public Accounting Oversight’’; 

13 (3) by striking ‘‘the Board’’ each place it ap14 pears and inserting ‘‘the Office’’; 

15 (4) by striking ‘‘The Board’’ each place it ap16 pears and inserting ‘‘The Office’’; and 

17 (5) by striking ‘‘the Board’s’’ each place it ap18 pears and inserting ‘‘the Office’s’’. 

19 (b) REPEALS.—Sections 104, 105, and 107 of the 

20 Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (15 U.S.C. 7214; 15 U.S.C. 

21 7215; 15 U.S.C. 7217) are repealed. 

22 (c) REFERENCES.—Beginning on the date that is 2 

23 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, any ref24 erence to the Public Company Accounting Oversight 

25 Board in any law, regulation, map, document, record, or 

26 other paper of the United States shall be deemed to be 


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1 a reference to the Office of Public Accounting Oversight 

2 of the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Securities and 

3 Exchange Commission. 

4 (d) TERMINATION OF EXISTING BOARD.—The Public 

5 Company Accounting Oversight Board shall terminate on 

6 the date that is 2 years after the date of the enactment 

7 of this Act. 

8 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT; ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 101 of the Sarbanes10 Oxley Act of 2002 (15 U.S.C. 7211) is amended— 

11 (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol12 lows: 

13 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE.—There is estab14 lished in the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Com15 mission an Office of Public Accounting Oversight, to over16 see the audit of companies that are subject to the securi17 ties laws, and related matters, in order to protect the in18 terests of investors and further the public interest in the 

19 preparation of informative, accurate, and independent 

20 audit reports.’’; 

21 (2) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol22 lows: 

23 ‘‘(b) DIRECTOR.—The Chief Accountant of the Office 

24 of the Chief Accountant of the Commission shall serve as 


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1 the Director of the Office of Public Accounting Over2 sight.’’; 

3 (3) in subsection (c)— 

4 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘THE

5 BOARD’’ and inserting ‘‘THE OFFICE’’; 

6 (B) by striking ‘‘, subject to action by the 

7 Commission under section 107, and once a de8 termination is made by the Commission under 

9 subsection (d) of this section’’; 

10 (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘section 

11 104’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (e)’’; 

12 (D) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘section 

13 105’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (f)’’; 

14 (E) in paragraph (5)— 

15 (i) by striking ‘‘the Board (or the 

16 Commission, by rule or order)’’ and insert17 ing ‘‘the Commission’’; and 

18 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and’’ after the semi19 colon; 

20 (F) in paragraph (6)— 

21 (i) by striking ‘‘the rules of the 

22 Board’’ and inserting ‘‘the rules of the 

23 Commission’’; and 

24 (ii) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting 

25 a period; and 


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1 (G) by striking paragraph (7); 

2 (4) in subsection (d)— 

3 (A) by striking ‘‘The members of the 

4 Board’’ and inserting ‘‘The Chief Accountant of 

5 the Office of the Chief Accountant of the Com6 mission’’; 

7 (B) by striking ‘‘270 days after the date of 

8 enactment of this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘1 year 

9 after the date of the enactment of the Stream10 lining Public Company Accounting Oversight 

11 Act’’; and 

12 (C) by striking the last sentence; 

13 (5) by striking subsections (e), (f), and (g); 

14 (6) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(e) INSPECTIONS OF REGISTERED PUBLIC AC17 COUNTING FIRMS.—The Office shall conduct a continuing 

18 program of inspections to assess the degree of compliance 

19 of each registered public accounting firm and associated 

20 persons of that firm with this Act, the rules of the Com21 mission, or professional standards, in connection with its 

22 performance of audits, issuance of audit reports, and re23 lated matters involving issuers. 

24 ‘‘(f) INVESTIGATIONS AND DISCIPLINARY PRO25 CEEDINGS.—The Commission shall establish, by rule, fair 


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1 procedures for the investigation and disciplining of reg2 istered public accounting firms and associated persons of 

3 such firms.’’; 

4 (7) by redesignating subsection (h) as sub5 section (g); and 

6 (8) in the heading of subsection (g), as so re7 designated, by striking ‘‘THE BOARD’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘THE OFFICE’’. 

9 (b) PUBLICATION OF RULES.—The Director of the 

10 Office of Public Accounting Oversight shall, promptly 

11 after the creation of the Office, cause to be published in 

12 the Federal Register all rules that are transferred to the 

13 jurisdiction of the Office pursuant to section 2 upon the 

14 termination of the Public Company Accounting Oversight 

15 Board. 

16 SEC. 4. REGISTRATION WITH THE OFFICE. 

17 Section 102 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (15 

18 U.S.C. 7212) is amended— 

19 (1) in the section heading by striking ‘‘THE

20 BOARD’’ and inserting ‘‘THE OFFICE’’; 

21 (2) in subsection (b)(2)(H), by striking ‘‘the 

22 Board or the’’; and 

23 (3) in subsection (c)(2), by striking ‘‘ for pur24 poses of sections 105(d) and 107(c)’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. AUDITING, QUALITY CONTROL, STANDARDS, AND 

2 RULES. 

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

4 U.S.C. 7213) is amended— 

5 (1) in the heading, by striking ‘‘AND INDE6 PENDENCE STANDARDS’’ and inserting ‘‘STAND7 ARDS, AND’’; 

8 (2) in subsection (a)(3)— 

9 (A) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking ‘‘, 

10 subject to the terms of section 107,’’; 

11 (B) by striking subparagraph (B); and 

12 (C) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as 

13 subparagraph (B); 

14 (3) in subsection (c) in the heading of para15 graph (2), by striking ‘‘BOARD’’ and inserting ‘‘OF16 FICE’’; and 

17 (4) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘101(h)’’ and 

18 inserting ‘‘101(g)’’. 

19 SEC. 6. FOREIGN PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRMS. 

20 Section 106 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (15 

21 U.S.C. 7216) is amended— 

22 (1) in the heading of subsection (a)(2), by 

23 striking ‘‘BOARD’’ and inserting ‘‘OFFICE’’; and 

24 (2) in subsection (c)— 

25 (A) by striking ‘‘and the Board, subject to 

26 the approval of the Commission, may,’’; and 


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1 (B) by striking ‘‘(or Board)’’. 

2 SEC. 7. FUNDING. 

3 Section 109 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (15 

4 U.S.C. 7219) is amended— 

5 (1) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol6 lows: 

7 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL BUDGETS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) STANDARD SETTING BODY.—The standard 

9 setting body referred to in subsection (a) shall estab10 lish a budget for each fiscal year, which shall be re11 viewed and approved according to their respective in12 ternal procedures not less than 1 month prior to the 

13 commencement of the fiscal year to which the budg14 et pertains. 

15 ‘‘(2) THE OFFICE.—The Commission shall es16 tablish the budget for the Office for each fiscal 

17 year.’’; 

18 (2) in subsection (c)— 

19 (A) by amending paragraph (1) to read as 

20 follows: 

21 ‘‘(1) RECOVERABLE BUDGET EXPENSES.— 

22 ‘‘(A) STANDARD SETTING BODY.—The 

23 budget of the standard setting body referred to 

24 in subsection (a) for each fiscal year shall be 

25 payable from annual accounting support fees, in 


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1 accordance with subsections (d) and (e). Ac2 counting support fees and other receipts of such 

3 standard-setting body shall not be considered 

4 public monies of the United States. 

5 ‘‘(B) THE OFFICE.—The budget of the Of6 fice (reduced by any registration or annual fees 

7 received under section 102(f) for the year pre8 ceding the year for which the budget is being 

9 computed) for each fiscal year may be payable 

10 from annual accounting support fees, in accord11 ance with subsections (d) and (e). Accounting 

12 support fees and other receipts of the Office.’’; 

13 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘shall’’ 

14 and inserting ‘‘may’’; 

15 (3) in subsection (d)— 

16 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘THE

17 BOARD’’ and inserting ‘‘THE OFFICE’’; 

18 (B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘The 

19 Board shall establish, with the approval of the 

20 Commission,’’ and inserting ‘‘The Commission 

21 may establish’’; 

22 (C) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘shall’’ 

23 and inserting ‘‘may’’; and 

24 (D) by striking paragraph (3); 

25 (4) in subsection (j)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘either the Board,’’; and 

2 (B) by striking ‘‘, or both,’’; and 

3 (5) by striking subsection (k). 

4 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

5 Section 110 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (15 

6 U.S.C. 7220) is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and (6) as 

8 paragraphs (6) and (7); and 

9 (2) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(5) OFFICE.—The term ‘Office’ means the Of12 fice of Public Accounting Oversight of the Office of 

13 the Chief Accountant of the Commission.’’. 

14 SEC. 9. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

15 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2(a)(9)(C) of the Sar16 banes-Oxley Act of 2002 (15 U.S.C. 7201) is amended by 

17 striking ‘‘, 101(c), 105, and 107(c) and the rules of the 

18 Board and Commission issued thereunder’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘and 101(c) and the rules of the Commission thereunder’’. 

20 (b) EXEMPTION AUTHORITY.—Section 201(b) of the 

21 Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (15 U.S.C. 7231(b)) is 

22 amended— 

23 (1) by striking ‘‘The Board may’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘The Commission may’’; and 


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1 (2) by striking ‘‘in the same manner as for 

2 rules of the Board under section 107’’. 

3 (c) SELF-REGULATORY ORGANIZATION.—Section 

4 603(y)(3) of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 

5 U.S.C. 1681a(y)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘any entity 

6 established under title I of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 

7 2002,’’. 

8 SEC. 10. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION WITH RESPECT TO CO9 OPERATIVE ARRANGEMENTS. 

10 Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by this 

11 Act, shall be construed to invalidate or otherwise affect 

12 a cooperative arrangement between the Public Company 

13 Accounting Oversight Board and a foreign auditor over14 sight authority (as defined in section 2(a) of the Sarbanes15 Oxley Act of 2002 (15 U.S.C. 7201(a))) in effect on the 

16 date that is 2 years after the date of the enactment of 

17 this Act. 

18 SEC. 11. REGULATIONS. 

19 The Securities and Exchange Commission may issue 

20 such regulations as may be necessary to carry out this 

21 Act. 


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1 SEC. 12. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 

3 on the date that is 2 years after the date of the enactment 

4 of this Act. 

Æ 


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