Skip to main content
HR 3617 107th Congress House

Accountability for Accountants Act of 2002

Official title: To withdraw certain benefits of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act from auditors that perform non-audit functions, and for other purposes.

Introduced: January 23, 2002 Introduced by: Markey, Edward J. Democratic · Massachusetts See on congress.gov
Finance and Financial Sector AccountingAccounting and auditingAccounting and financial statementsAuditing
More subjectsShow fewer subjects
Auditing and auditorsBankruptcyBusiness recordsCivil actions and liabilityClass actions (Civil procedure)CommerceConflict of interestsCongressCongressional reporting requirementsConsultantsCorporate collapseCrime and Law EnforcementDamagesDiscovery (Law)Financial services
Sign in to write a letter Sign in to watch
This bill died when the 107th Congress ended
It never became law before the 107th Congress (2001–2002) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 3 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Feb 11, 2002
Referred to the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises.
Jan 23, 2002
Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Jan 23, 2002
Introduced in House
 Ask about this bill AI · grounded in the bill text

Have a question about what this bill does? Ask in plain English; the answer is drawn from the bill's actual text and official record, and it'll tell you when something isn't in the text rather than guess.

AI answers can be imperfect; always confirm against the full bill text.

 Latest action February 11, 2002

Referred to the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service
Accountability for Accountants Act of 2002 - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to extend joint and several liability to an auditor of financial statements: (1) who has been found by a jury to have failed to detect and report illegal acts of the issuer of securities that are the subject of a class action; (2) who has performed non-audit functions for such issuer during the time within which an alleged violation of securities occurred; or (3) the issuer of such securities is insolvent.

Declares stay of discovery procedures inapplicable in any private action against such auditor.

Amends the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Investment Company Act of 1940, and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to extend liability to persons who aid or abet violations of such Act.

Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to mandate maintenance of audit records of an issuer of securities and to impose criminal sanctions for non-compliance.

Requires an accountant/auditor of a securities issuer to report to the Securities and Exchange Commission on its decision to: (1) divest itself of interests in non-audit businesses in light of the inherent potential conflicts of interest in providing both audit and non-audit services to an issuer; or (2) cease providing non-audit services to companies whose financial statements it audits.

Mandates preservation of records during shareholder litigation.

 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 2
 Cosponsors 4
All 4 Democratic 4
D
DeLauro, Rosa L.
Connecticut · Oct 3, 2002
 D
Doggett, Lloyd
Texas · Feb 26, 2002
 D
Kaptur, Marcy
Ohio · Feb 26, 2002
 D
Lynch, Stephen F.
Massachusetts · Feb 26, 2002
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 3617: Accountability for Accountants Act of 2002. 107th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/107-HR-3617/
MLA
"H.R. 3617: Accountability for Accountants Act of 2002." 107th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/107-HR-3617/.
Bluebook (legal)
H.R. 3617, 107th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/107-HR-3617/.
Markdown link
[H.R. 3617: Accountability for Accountants Act of 2002](https://openamerica.io/bill/107-HR-3617/)
Report a problem