2023 New York Laws › EDN - Education › Title 8 - The Professions › Article 149 - Public Accountancy › 7410 - Mandatory Peer Review.

§  7410.  Mandatory  peer review. 1. The department shall require as a
  condition to renewal of registrations under section seventy-four hundred
  eight of this article, that unless otherwise exempted by the department,
  applicants for firm registrations, undergo, no more frequently than once
  every three years, except pursuant  to  a  disciplinary  action  brought
  under  section  seventy-four hundred eight of this article, peer reviews
  of  the  firm's  attest  services  conducted  in  such  manner  as   the
  commissioner shall specify in regulations, and such review shall include
  a  verification  that  individuals  in  the firm who are responsible for
  supervising attest services  sign  or  authorize  someone  to  sign  the
  accountant's  report  on  the financial statements on behalf of the firm
  meet the competency requirements set out in the  professional  standards
  for such services, provided that any such regulations:
a.  shall include reasonable provisions for compliance by an applicant
  for firm registration showing that it has, within  the  preceding  three
  years, undergone a peer review in this state or a peer review in another
  state that is a satisfactory equivalent to peer review required pursuant
  to this section;
b.  shall require, with respect to any organization administering peer
  review programs contemplated by paragraph a of this subdivision, that it
  be subject  to  evaluations  by  the  department  or  its  designee,  to
  periodically  assess  the effectiveness of the peer review program under
  its charge;
c. shall  require  the  peer  review  to  be  conducted  by  reviewers
  acceptable  to  the  department  in  accordance  with the commissioner's
  regulations; and
d. may require with respect to peer reviews contemplated by  paragraph
  a   of   this   subdivision  that  firms  undergoing  peer  reviews  and
  organizations administering peer review programs timely remit such  peer
  review  reports  to  the  state  board  for  public accountancy and such
  reports shall be maintained by the board in  a  manner  consistent  with
  subdivision two of this section.
2.  Notwithstanding  any provision of law to the contrary, the reports
  submitted in accordance with subdivision one of this  section  shall  be
  confidential  and  shall not constitute a public record and shall not be
  subject to disclosure  under  articles  six  and  six-A  of  the  public
  officers law. However, when any such report is admitted into evidence in
  a  hearing  held  by  the  department,  it shall then be a public record
  subject to disclosure  under  articles  six  and  six-A  of  the  public
  officers law.
3. Notwithstanding any provision of law or regulation to the contrary,
  a firm that performs attest services for any New York state or municipal
  department,  board,  bureau,  division,  commission,  committee,  public
  authority, public corporation, council, office,  or  other  governmental
  entity  performing  a  governmental or proprietary function for New York
  state or any one or more  municipalities  thereof,  or  performs  attest
  services  specifically  required  to  be  performed pursuant to New York
  state law, or performs attest  services  for  any  federal  governmental
  entity  pursuant  to  federal  law,  shall  be  in  conformity  with the
  requirements pursuant  to  the  government  auditing  standards  of  the
  comptroller general of the United States.