Prior to SOX, auditors were subject only to state licensing and lightly enforced self-regulation.
From 1978, a part-time ‘‘Public Oversight Board’’ oversaw auditors, but was dominated by audit
firms and had little authority. Recognizing that Congress was in no position to legislate auditing
standards in detail, Congress delegated that task in the Act, not to an existing or new public
regulatory body, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), nor to leave it in the
private hands of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), but instead to
create a unique new hybrid public/private agency in the form of the PCAOB.