§1520 Destruction of Corporate Audit Records

Summary

Accountants who audit certain public companies covered by section 10A(a) must keep all audit and review workpapers for 5 years after the fiscal period when the audit or review ended. The Securities and Exchange Commission must, within 180 days after notice and a chance to comment, make rules about which records must be kept — for example workpapers, documents that support an audit, memos, emails, and other paper or electronic records that show conclusions, opinions, analyses, or financial data. The SEC can later change those rules with notice and a chance to comment. Anyone who knowingly and willfully breaks the 5-year rule or the SEC’s rules can be fined, imprisoned for up to 10 years, or both. This does not remove any other federal or state duty to keep or not destroy documents.