STATEMENTS REGARDING ANNOUNCEMENT BY PCAOB CHAIRMAN WILLIAM MCDONOUGH OF HIS INTENTION TO RESIGN

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2005-135

Washington, D.C., Sept. 23, 2005 - Christopher Cox, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Donald Nicolaisen, SEC Chief Accountant, issued the following statements today upon the announcement by William J. McDonough that he intends to resign as Chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board:

Chairman Cox stated, "Bill McDonough has done an outstanding job as the Chairman of the PCAOB. His experience at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York during some turbulent years amply prepared him for the pathbreaking work that he took on in June 2003. He has provided superb leadership at a critical time to our nation's investors, capital markets, and public companies, as well as the accounting firms that audit them.

"It has been an exceptional opportunity to work closely with Bill McDonough in recent months as together we have worked to implement the auditing and inspection process that recently was mandated by Congress. I am especially grateful that he has agreed to remain at the PCAOB long enough to permit a thorough search for a worthy successor. For years to come, we will continue to build on his work for investors and for all who benefit from healthy capital markets."

Donald Nicolaisen, the Commission's Chief Accountant, said, "It has been an honor to work with Chairman McDonough over the past two years on matters of extreme importance not only to auditors but also to the integrity of our securities markets. The credibility that investors place in companies' financial statements depends in large part on the work, ethics and independence of the men and women who perform a critical examination of those statements during the audit process. When Chairman McDonough took office investor confidence in that audit process was at its low ebb and he has led the efforts to establish a regulatory system that assures investors that auditors place investors' interests above all other interests or concerns."

http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2005-135.htm