New Faces at PCAOB

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William D. Duhnke, III, was sworn in as chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board on January 2. Prior to coming to the PCAOB, Mr. Duhnke was the majority staff director and general counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, chaired by Richard C. Shelby. He joined Senator Shelby’s staff in 1995, after serving in the U.S. Navy, and has served as general counsel to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Senate Committee on Appropriations, and Senate Select Committee.

Also sworn in on January 2 was PCAOB member Kathleen M. Hamm, who came from the Promontory Financial Group where she was the global leader of securities and fintech services and senior strategic adviser to the chief executive officer on cyber solutions. From 2014 to early 2017 she had served at the U.S. Treasury Department as counselor to the deputy secretary on cybersecurity and related governance, regulatory compliance, and risk management issues facing the financial services sector.

Other new members coming on to the PCAOB are J. Robert Brown, James Kaiser and Duane DesParte. Mr. Brown is currently a professor of law at the University of Denver, where he is the director of the corporate and commercial law program. Mr. Kaiser is a partner and Global Assurance Methodology and Transformation Leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers and has been with the firm for 38 years. Mr. DesParte is retiring as Senior Vice President and Corporate Controller of Exelon Corporation where he has been for 14 years, after being an audit partner with Deloitte & Touche and previously Arthur Andersen.

PCAOB Member Jeannette M. Franzel is continuing as a Board member pending the arrival of the new Board members. Chairman James R. Doty and Board Members Steven B. Harris and Lewis Ferguson have completed their service at the PCAOB. Chief of Staff Samantha Ross has also left the PCAOB, having been with the Board since it was first formed. Francis “Abe” Dymond stepped into the Chief of Staff position on January 2. He came to the PCAOB in 2012 and has served as special counsel to Ms. Franzel.