Agenda for Public Hearings on Proposed Auditor Independence Rules

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2000-123

Updated September 13, 2000

Washington, D.C., September 5, 2000 – Today the Commission released the following agenda for public hearings on proposed auditor independence rules to be held in New York City on September 13, 2000:

8:45 am:	Opening Remarks
	Morning Session
9:00 am:	Panel 1
	Laurence H. Meyer, Governor,     Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Paul A. Volcker, Former Chairman     Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
9:30 am:	Panel 2
	David A. Brown, Chairman,    Ontario Securities Commission John C. Whitehead, Retired Chairman,    Goldman Sachs & Co. Bevis Longstreth,    Retired Partner, Debevoise and Plimpton
10:15 am:	Panel 3
	Gary M. Pfeiffer, Chief Financial Officer,     E. I. Du Pont De Nemours and Company Judy Lewent, Senior Vice President    & Chief Financial Officer, Merck & Co., Inc.
10:45 am:	Panel 4
	Kayla J. Gillan, General Counsel,     California Public Employees' Retirement System Alan P. Cleveland, Special Legal Counsel,     New Hampshire Retirement System Ralph Whitworth, Managing Member,     Relational Investors, LLC
11:30 am:	Panel 5
	Jo Ann Golden, Vice President,     New York Society of Certified Public Accountants Dennis Paul Spackman, Chairman, David Costello, President and Chief Executive Officer,     National Association of State Boards of Accountancy William G. Bishop, III, President,    Institute of Internal Auditors Jacqueline K. Wagner, General Auditor,    General Motors Corporation     [Representing Institute of Internal Auditors]
12:15 pm:	Lunch Break
	Afternoon Session
1:00 pm:	Panel 1
	Tom Gardner, Co-Founder, The Motley Fool, Inc. Bernard Blum, Blum Shapiro Financial Services Inc.     [Representing Financial Planning Association]
1:30 pm:	Panel 2
	Domenick J. Esposito, Chief Executive Officer,     Grant Thornton LLP Thomas S. Goodkind, Formerly with    Arthur Andersen & Co.
2:00 pm:	Panel 3
	Robert M. Morgenthau, District Attorney, County of New York
2:15 pm:	Panel 4
	Jay W. Eisenhofer, Grant & Eisenhofer, P.A. Charles R. Drott
2:45 pm:	Panel 5
	John Guinan, on behalf of     Stephen G. Butler, Chairman, KPMG LLP Robert K. Elliott, Chairman Barry Melancon, President and Chief Executive Officer Harold L. Monk, Jr., Chairman     of the PCPS Executive Committee Gordon A. Viere, Chairman of the Practice Group B     Advisory Committee Gary S. Shamis, Chairman of the PCPS Management of     an Accounting Practice Committee     [Representing the American Institute of     Certified Public Accountants]
3:15 pm:	Panel 6
	Robert Fox, New York State Board for Public Accountancy Larry Gelfond, Colorado Accountancy Board Baxter Rice, California State Board of Accountancy Anne Ross, Robert Wilkes,     South Carolina Accountancy Board
4:15 pm:	Break
4:30 pm:	Panel 7
	Graham Ward, President,     The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England     and Wales Elise Neils, Director, Brand Finance plc
5:00 pm:	Panel 8
	Thomas C. DeFazio, Executive Vice President     & Chief Financial Officer,     VirtualCom Incorporated Richard J. Stegemeier, Chairman Emeritus of     the Board of Directors,     UnoCal Corporation
5:30 pm:	Panel 9
	Daniel Dustin, New York State Education Department Rajib Doogar, Visiting Assistant Professor,     Department of Accountancy,     University of Illinois at Champaign Urbana David Dasgupta, Former AICPA Official
6:15 pm:	Conclusion