SYNOPSIS
This is a study of the first nine years of Arthur Andersen & Co.’s Public Review Board (PRB), from 1974 to 1983, coinciding with the term of its first chairman, Newton N. Minow. The PRB was a unique experiment, as the Andersen firm established it as an independent board composed of distinguished public servants who were to review the firm’s policies and make visits to the firm’s offices around the world and then render annual reports on their assessment of the quality of the firm’s work in carrying out its professional practice, in auditing, tax, and administrative services. The PRB’s annual reports were to be published. The paper concludes with a discussion of some lessons that might be learned from the PRB experience in today’s debates over the regulation of audit firms and the management of audit quality.
Data Availability: PRB annual reports are held by the AICPA Library.
