Senate Plan to Fold PCAOB into SEC Bars SEC from Using Transaction Fees to Fund Oversight

Plus the Supreme Court declines to hear case challenging SEC disgorgement power.

Author

Bruce Carton
June 09, 2025

Good morning! Here’s what’s up.

Video: “The State (and Future) of SEC Crypto Enforcement and Regulation”

The full video from this panel at Securities Enforcement Forum West last month is below. The panel was moderated by Peter Altman (Akin Gump) and featured Trace Schmeltz (Barnes & Thornburg), Brent Wilner (SEC) and Omid Yazdi (KPMG).

People

Damian Williams, former U.S. Attorney for the SDNY, has joined Jenner & Block as a partner in the firm’s New York office.

Samidh Guha has joined Venable LLP as a partner in firm’s New York office.

Clips ✂️

Senate GOP Plan Erases Audit Board, Curbs SEC Oversight Fees

Senate Republicans would eliminate the US audit watchdog and transfer its mission to the SEC, but prevent the Wall Street regulator from raising fees to pay for its expanded mission, according to a draft spending plan released on Friday.

The Senate Banking Committee would eliminate the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and reassign its role regulating the work of auditors to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The proposal is similar to a bill the House narrowly passed last month.

Unlike the House measure, however, the Senate would bar the SEC from using revenue from transaction fees to pay for staff and other resources related to auditor oversight. The plan is part of a sweeping tax-and spending-bill that is meant to enact the Trump administration’s agenda.

by Bloomberg Law

👉 Meredith Ervine writes on TheCorporateCounsel.net that the PCAOB is presently “funded by accounting support fees that would be eliminated by merging the PCAOB’s responsibilities into the SEC, meaning, as Dan Goelzer notes, future appropriations would be needed in perpetuity to support the SEC’s ability to do this work.“

Supreme Court Skips Firm’s Challenge to SEC Disgorgement Power

The SEC’s practice of recovering funds obtained through fraud without first having to prove investors lost any money will avoid a closer look from the US Supreme Court.

The justices on Friday denied a petition asking them to review a ruling from the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit last July upholding an order that required investment firm Navellier & Associates Inc. to disgorge $22.7 million in profits made from allegedly misleading clients on an investment strategy’s track record.

by Bloomberg Law

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