Deadline Passes for Oversight Nominees

Nominations were due to the Securities and Exchange Commission by Monday for the new Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, and former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul A. Volcker continues to be Washington’s inside favorite to head the new board.

But some reports have said Volcker may not be interested.

The oversight board was mandated by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of corporate reforms that President Bush signed into law July 30.

The new five-member board will have the power to regulate and discipline the accounting industry, taking over for a much weaker oversight board that dissolved itself earlier this year.

The SEC must fill the board’s slots within 90 days of Bush’s signature on the bill.

All of the members must be full-time and two of the five must be certified public accountants.

Several published reports have listed Volcker as the SEC’s top choice to chair the board. But the New York Times recently reported that friends of Volcker say he may not want the job.

Also reported to be candidates for the board are Donald J. Kirk, former chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the industry’s rule-making body; and Arthur Levitt, former SEC chairman.

Under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the SEC must consult with Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and Treasury Secretary Paul H. O’Neill in choosing the board’s members.