Excerpt from Current Issues and Rulemaking Projects Outline Quarterly Update (March 31, 2001)

Auditor Association with Interim Financial Statements

Rule 10-01(d) of Regulation S-X and Rule 310(b) of Regulation S-B require the review of interim financial statements by an independent public accountant prior to their filing in Form 10-Q or 10-QSB. The registrant is not required to state in the filing that the interim financial statements have been reviewed. A report of the independent public accountant is required to be included in the filing only if the registrant states that the financial statements have been reviewed. The interim review should be conducted in accordance with SAS 71. The AICPA's Professional Issues Task Force issued Practice Alert No. 2000-4, which provides auditors with important information they will need to consider for quarterly reviews of financial statements of public companies.

If the registrant fails to obtain a review of the interim financial statements prior to their filing in Form 10-Q or 10-QSB, the filing is deficient and the registrant is deemed not to be current or timely in its Exchange Act filings. If a review was not obtained, the staff believes the registrant should disclose in a headnote, under Item 1 of Part I and preceding the quarterly financial statements, that it did not obtain a review of the interim financial statements by an independent accountant using professional review standards and procedures, although such a review is required by the form. Completion of a review after the interim financial statements have been filed with the Commission will make the filing current, although it will not be deemed timely.

Auditors have professional responsibilities to consider when the registrant files interim financial statements in a Form 10-Q or 10-QSB that have not been reviewed. Unless otherwise disclosed in the filing, investors are likely to presume that the review required by the form has been performed by the auditor of record. If financial statements with which the independent accountant would be associated are included in a Form 10-Q or 10-QSB without the accountant's timely review, the auditor should consider Practice Alert 2000-4, AU§504 and Exchange Act Section 10A. Practice Alert 2000-4 advises that the auditor should consider discussing that failure with the company's audit committee and the company's legal counsel. If the deficiency is not immediately addressed through the accountant's completion of a review, the accountant should request that the client promptly amend the filing to disclose that the financial statements have not been reviewed by an independent accountant as required by the form. In addition, the auditor has a responsibility to follow the guidance in Section 10A. Under that section, if the company and its board fail to take appropriate remedial action with respect to an illegal act that is material to the financial statements, and the auditor reasonably expects to modify its report or resign due to the illegal act, then the auditor should report the violation of the law to the SEC.

http://www.sec.gov/divisions/corpfin/guidance/ci033101ex_othereaf.htm