PCAOB

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board staff released a report Monday on last year's banking crisis.

New standards forwarded by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission bolster auditor responsibilities and introduce enhanced technology use, impacting over 350 publicly traded banks.

The Maryland Democrat served five terms in the U.S. Senate, a 30-year tenure in which he was chairman of the Senate Banking Committee when it responded to a rash of accounting scandals. He didn’t seek a sixth term and retired on Jan. 3, 2007.

A number of small banks have disclosed material weaknesses in loan-loss accounting and other procedures. Reasons vary, but a common thread appears to be that accounting firms are facing pressure to beef up their scrutiny of internal controls in financial services.