I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 6769 
To amend the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to provide for disclosure regarding 
foreign jurisdictions that hinder inspections, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 13, 2023 
Ms. STEFANIK (for herself, Mr. LUETKEMEYER, Mrs. HINSON, Mr. NUNN of 
Iowa, and Mr. DONALDS) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To amend the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to provide for 
disclosure regarding foreign jurisdictions that hinder in-
spections, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Trusted Foreign Au-
diting Act of 2023’’. 
SEC. 2. INSPECTION OF REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING 
FIRMS. 
Section 104(i) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (15 
U.S.C. 7214(i)) is amended— 
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(1) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) 
and (B) as subparagraphs (C) and (D), respec-
tively; and 
(B) by inserting before subparagraph (C), 
as so redesignated, the following: 
‘‘(A) the term ‘compromised auditor’ 
means, with respect to a registered public ac-
counting firm, an independent branch or office 
of that firm (or a subsidiary of such a branch 
or office) that— 
‘‘(i) is subject to the jurisdiction and 
laws of the government of a covered coun-
try; 
‘‘(ii) is directly or indirectly con-
trolled, directed, or materially influenced 
by a covered country; 
‘‘(iii) has a manager or owner, or con-
ducts any operation, that is subject to the 
direct influence of a covered country; or 
‘‘(iv) has entered into any arrange-
ment, agreement, or relationship with the 
government or political party of a covered 
country that could compromise the objec-
tivity, integrity, or independence of the 
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branch, office, or subsidiary in performing 
auditing or attestation services; 
‘‘(B) the term ‘covered country’ means— 
‘‘(i) any country (including any spe-
cial administrative region of such country) 
identified as a threat to the national secu-
rity of the United States in the most re-
cent report submitted to Congress by the 
Director of National Intelligence pursuant 
to section 108B of the National Security 
Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3043b) (commonly 
referred to as the ‘Annual Threat Assess-
ment’); or 
‘‘(ii) any covered nation (as defined in 
section 4872(d)(2) of title 10, United 
States Code);’’; 
(2) in paragraph (2)(A)— 
(A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by 
striking ‘‘paragraph (1)(A)’’ and inserting 
‘‘paragraph (1)(C)’’; and 
(B) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘is a com-
promised auditor that’’ before ‘‘the Board is 
unable’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(5) TRADING
PROHIBITION.—If a covered 
issuer that is headquartered in a country of concern 
retains a compromised auditor to prepare an audit 
report described in paragraph (2)(A) for the covered 
issuer, the trading prohibition described in para-
graph (3) shall apply to the covered issuer.’’. 
SEC. 3. PUBLIC HEARINGS. 
Section 105(c) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (15 
U.S.C. 7215(c)) is amended by striking paragraph (2) and 
inserting the following: 
‘‘(2) PUBLIC HEARINGS.— 
‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph, 
the terms ‘compromised auditor’ and ‘covered 
issuer’ have the meanings given those terms in 
section 104(i)(1). 
‘‘(B) CONDITIONS.—Hearings under this 
section shall not be public, unless— 
‘‘(i) a compromised auditor retained 
by a covered issuer is a party to the hear-
ing; or 
‘‘(ii) otherwise ordered by the Board 
for good cause shown, with the consent of 
the parties to such hearing.’’. 
Æ 
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