Julie Erhardt Named as SEC Deputy Chief Accountant

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2004-146

Washington, D.C., Oct. 15, 2004 - Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman William H. Donaldson today announced the selection of Julie A. Erhardt to serve as Deputy Chief Accountant for the Commission. As Deputy Chief Accountant, Erhardt will report to Donald T. Nicolaisen, Chief Accountant. She will share responsibilities for the day-to-day operations of the Office of the Chief Accountant with Scott Taub and Andrew Bailey. These responsibilities include resolution of accounting and auditing issues, rulemaking projects, and oversight of private sector standard-setting efforts and regulation of auditors. Erhardt will work closely with various international organizations including the International Accounting Standards Board and the International Federation of Accountants on issues relating to convergence of accounting, auditing and reporting standards.

SEC Chief Accountant Donald T. Nicolaisen said, "I am delighted that Julie has agreed to join the Commission. Having a person of her experience, intelligence and enthusiasm will contribute significantly to improvement in accounting and auditing standards and practices worldwide and to the Commission's efforts to encourage convergence in these important areas. I'm confident that Julie's work will greatly benefit the Commission and the investing public."

Erhardt spent the last year as a Sloan Fellow at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University, where she received a Master's Degree in management. Before that, she spent seven months on an interim assignment with the International Accounting Standards Board in London. The bulk of Julie's career was spent at Arthur Andersen LLP where she was admitted as a partner in 1998. Erhardt spent nine years as an auditor in that firm's Detroit office, before spending eight years in Andersen's Professional Standards Group. She also served a two-year fellowship at the Financial Accounting Standards Board in Norwalk, Conn.

Erhardt, 43, received her undergraduate degree from Michigan State University in 1983. She is a C.P.A. in Illinois and Michigan. Erhardt will assume her new duties at the SEC in late October.