Another Vancouver-based public company auditing firm was recently penalized by the U.S. regulator responsible for overseeing market regulation, bringing the total to 10 such firms since March 2021.

Additionally, another company, headquartered in Toronto but with offices in British Columbia, was penalized for work it performed within a company registered in British Columbia.

Both decisions by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) are settlement offers in which the companies neither admit nor deny the findings, “except as to the Board’s jurisdiction over (the) defendant and the subject matter of this procedure.

The board oversees companies that file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission or sell securities in the United States, to protect the interests of investors.

The decisions largely concern reporting failures.

“This latest round of orders shows that companies cannot neglect their responsibilities to keep audit committees informed and report required information to the PCAOB,” said Robert E. RiceDirector of the PCAOB’s Division of Enforcement and Investigations.

“The PCAOB will take disciplinary action to reinforce the importance of these obligations, as set forth in our rules and standards.”

In the case of Crowe MacKay LLP, the board fined him $30,000, censured him and now requires the firm to “comply with its policies and procedures designed to ensure compliance with the rules and standards of the PCAOB for communications with audit committees and documentation of those communications. .”

Concerns arose regarding the audit of GreenPower Motor Company Inc., registered in British Columbia, when the company failed to document tax preparation and consent services.

It also failed to document similar cases with a Victoria-based company, identified as “Issuer A”, which is developing “novel therapeutic antibodies”.

The board specifically stated that Crowe MacKay failed to document prior approval from Issuer A’s audit committee for the audit services.

Crowe MacKay told the board it has since updated its policies.

In the second decision, both dated September 24, the board also fined Toronto-based Grant Thornton LLP for audit work it conducted on Patagonia Gold Corp., a corporation incorporated in British Columbia, a mineral exploration and production company headquartered in Bueno Aires, Argentina.

Much of the concern concerns tax preparation services.

“During the period of audit and professional engagement that Grant Thornton Canada was conducting this audit, Grant Thornton Canada’s subsidiary, Grant Thornton UK, provided tax preparation services for a subsidiary of Patagonia” , said the board of directors.

“Grant Thornton Canada has not documented prior approval from Patagonia’s audit committee for Grant Thornton UK to provide these tax return preparation services” and “Grant Thornton Canada has also not described in writing to Patagonia Audit Committee the scope of tax preparation services. , the engagement fee structure and any oral agreements between Grant Thornton Canada and Patagonia regarding tax services.

The rules for auditing public companies in Canada are governed by the Canadian Public Accountability Board and firms, and their accountants, are certified by the Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia. (CPABC), a self-regulatory organization.

CPABC does not list violations committed by Crowe MacKay LLP on its website and largely anonymizes violation findings in its disciplinary summaries posted online.

In July, Glacier Media published a two-part series on CPABC enforcement policies, first highlighting how a large number of British Columbia accounting firms have come under scrutiny in the United States with little public recognition from the CPABC or the provincial government, which oversees the CPABC through the Ministry of Higher Education.

No other jurisdiction outside the United States has managed to achieve this level of scrutiny and enforcement from the PCAOB for serious violations that it says – if left unchecked – would jeopardize the integrity American investments and financial markets.

Glacier Media subsequently investigated the disciplinary findingsobserving that the enforcement decisions published by the CPABC are characterized by anonymity, low disclosure and insignificant sanctions.

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