In 2004, the SEC approved final Rule 4012 of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (Effective pursuant to SEC Release No. 34-50291; File No. PCAOB-2004-04; August 30, 2004). Under Rule 4012, the SEC and the Company articulated the standards and circumstances under which the Board would rely upon a non-United States inspection of a non-United States accounting firm. On Wednesday, December 5, 2007, the Board issued a proposed policy change which the Board indicates would permit it to increase reliance on foreign inspection authorities and delineates the criteria the Board proposed to use in determiing where this reliance is appropriate.

This proposed rule was issued as PCAOB Release No. 2007-011, and can be found via the web at PCAOB Release No. 2007-011

This proposed policy is open for comment until March 4, 2008.