A Historical View of the SEC's Reports to Congress on Oversight of the Profession's Self-Regulatory Process.
研究了1980-1985年间美国证券交易委员会推动对注册会计师事务所实施强制同行审查的过程，回顾了行业自律监管的历史演变，对关注会计行业监管的学者和政策制定者有参考价值。
Abstract This article focuses on the efforts made by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to establish mandated peer review (PR) oversight for certified public accounting (CPA) firms between 1980-1985. Peer regulation has existed since the 1887 formation of the first society of independent accountants. Rules of conduct of state societies of CPAs and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants have evolved over time, focusing on the conduct of individual members, rather than firms. The first peer review was ordered in the "Laventhol case" and the second in the "Peat Marwick Mitchell settlement." These and subsequent enforcement actions at the SEC in the early 1970s used peer review as a means of gaining assurance that the procedures of accounting firms offered protection against future deficiencies. Over the years, the profession's self-regulatory program for firms gradually has been perfected and various matters revised, as a response to concerns expressed by some members of the U.S. Congress and the SEC. The historical view of both SEC Reports to Congress and explicit testing of the peer review process suggests that the SEC's adoption of a mandatory peer review program is highly likely to occur.