Here's a reminder from the SEC: interim financial statements
included in Forms 10-Q are required to be "reviewed" by
outside auditors. On Friday, in a first enforcement proceeding of
its kind, the SEC announced charges against five companies that
had filed their 10-Qs with their quarterly financial statements
prior to review by their independent external auditors.
Although interim financial statements are not required to be
audited, under Reg S-X, prior to filing with the SEC, an
issuer must have an independent registered public accounting firm
conduct a review of the required interim financial
information in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB and SEC
rules. The press release indicates that the SEC's proceedings
"resulted from a review of filings, staff comment letters and
other metrics that indicated potential violations." The SEC
orders noted that the Forms 10-Q did not disclose that the interim
financial statements had not been reviewed. In most of the
