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Erica Williams will get a second term as chair of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced Tuesday, setting her up to lead the auditor watchdog through nearly the end of the decade.
“I’m proud of our work together and eager to continue executing our mission on behalf of investors who depend on US capital markets to build their American dream," Williams said in a press release announcing her reappointment.
Williams, who has helmed the PCAOB since 2022, has overseen the board as it has increased penalties—including its largest-ever fine—and passed new standards for audits and quality assurance. The board’s more aggressive agenda follows the tone of the SEC, which oversees the PCAOB and appoints its members. Under chair Gary Gensler since 2021, the commission has stepped up enforcement against companies and their accountants and auditors. The commission’s proposed regulations on climate change, investor transparency, and other hot-button issues have drawn intense opposition from some business groups and conservative policy advocates.
Williams’s second term begins Oct. 25 and lasts five years.
Before joining the board, Williams was an SEC litigator and a deputy chief of staff for more than a decade at the agency. She became an adviser on economic regulation to then-President Barack Obama before entering private practice, which she left to chair the PCAOB.