Former Commissioner Cox Was Prescient

Under the category there is nothing new under the securities regulation sun, I direct you to remarks made by former SEC Commissioner Charles Cox on Jan 7, 1986 on the occasion of the 13th annual AICPA conference on SEC developments. Commissioner Cox said that auditors need to assure both regulators and customers that they can and do maintain sufficient independence while performing management advisory or other non-audit services for their audit clients. He said that the challenge for the auditing profession will be to establish guidelines that eliminate even the appearance of impropriety in such engagements.

In concluding his remarks, and here is where he was really prescient, Commissioner Cox said that, although accountants have been given temporary control of their profession, they may find control wrested from them if they make misguided use of it. I have always believed that Commissioner Cox was one of the more thoughtful securities regulators we have had over the years.