TheCorporateCounsel.net

Yesterday, the SEC announced that it had established a unit in the Division of Enforcement focusing on financial reporting and accounting cases. This excerpt from the SEC’s press release provides some background on the new unit:

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced it is establishing a new specialized unit within the Division of Enforcement to provide the dedicated expertise, focus, and capacity to pursue accounting and financial reporting fraud cases as well as general misconduct in the accounting and auditing areas. The Financial Reporting and Accounting Unit will work in close collaboration with staff across all relevant SEC divisions and offices to ensure its approach to enforcing federal securities laws is consistent with the Commission’s policy goals.

“Since my return to the Division, I have been assessing every aspect of our staffing to ensure that we are aligned to deliver results in our core mission areas,” said David Woodcock, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “This new unit – which expands on the Division’s current and historical efforts to crack down on bad actors in the accounting and auditing profession – will be critical in our efforts to pursuing financial reporting fraud, as well as accounting and auditor misconduct more generally.”

The SEC said that the unit will be staffed by lawyers and accountants with specialized skills related to financial reporting, accounting, and auditing. The unit will be led by Timothy Zimmerman, who joins the SEC from RSM US LLP, where he served as Deputy General Counsel. Prior joining RSM, Mr. Zimmerman spent more than a decade with Gibson Dunn in the firm’s Denver office.

– John Jenkins