Auditor Independence With Respect to Certain Loans or Debtor-Creditor Relationships

The Securities and Exchange Commission ("Commission') is adopting amendments to its auditor independence rules to refocus the analysis that must be conducted to determine whether an auditor is independent when the auditor has a lending relationship with certain shareholders of an audit client at any time during an audit or professional engagement period. The amendments focus the analysis on beneficial ownership rather than on both record and beneficial ownership; replace the existing 10 percent bright-line shareholder ownership test with a "significant influence' test; add a "known through reasonable inquiry' standard with respect to identifying beneficial owners of the audit client's equity securities; and exclude from the definition of "audit client,' for a fund under audit, any other funds, that otherwise would be considered affiliates of the audit client under the rules for certain lending relationships. The amendments will more effectively identify debtor-creditor relationships that could impair an auditor's objectivity and impartiality, as opposed to certain more attenuated relationships that are unlikely to pose such threats, and thus will focus the analysis on those borrowing relationships that are important to investors.