PCAOB shows its teeth

Freed from the threat of the Supreme Court putting it out of business, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has decided to start flexing its muscles: the board issued a quick succession of announcements in a single day last week, including new and stricter risk assessment standards, plans to impose more sanctions on accounting firms and managers that don’t adequately supervise their staff, and the intention to ask Congress to allow the board to make its disciplinary proceedings and hearings public.