SEC Targets Auditing 'Bad Actors' With New Enforcement Team.

The article focuses on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) establishing a new enforcement team called the "SOX Group" to target misconduct in the auditing profession under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, a 2002 law designed to improve audit oversight following major corporate frauds. This move comes as the SEC reduced the budget and salaries of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), the independent agency traditionally responsible for regulating auditors. The SEC’s new unit will investigate and litigate potential violations of Sarbanes-Oxley auditing standards, reflecting ongoing tensions over audit oversight between the SEC and the PCAOB. The PCAOB, created by Congress to restore investor confidence after scandals like Enron and WorldCom, continues to maintain its own inspection and enforcement teams. [Extracted from the article]