U.S. audit regulators have voted an extension for themselves on getting certain international inspections done while they tango with their counterpart regulators in other countries.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board voted to approve an amendment to its Rule 4003 to postpone for up to three years the first inspection of any non-U.S.-based registered audit firm that the board otherwise should have inspected by the end of 2009. The Securities and Exchange Commission must approve the amendment before it can become effective but the Commission recently blessed PCAOB’s delay in completing 2008 inspections, acknowledging problems with getting international inspections done.

Just as the PCAOB is a relatively new regulator since the adoption of Sarbanes-Oxley, so too are many other audit regulatory bodies in other countries. The PCAOB has tried to establish working relationships with such regulators and rely on their work to the extent it satisfies the PCAOB’s need for oversight of firms doing audit work inside the United States. In some countries, however, the Board is meeting with some resistance in conducting inspections, where non-U.S. firms or their regulators are citing legal conflicts and sovereignty concerns.

The inspection conundrum is focused on 49 non-U.S. firms in 24 different jurisdictions where the board has yet to conduct a first inspection on registered firms. In adopting the delay, the board mapped out a plan to complete those initial inspections from 2009 through 2012, prioritizing inspections according to the market capitalization of firms’ audit clients. In the meantime, the PCAOB plans to publish a list of registered firms that have not been inspected to respond to investor advocates’ calls for transparency about who has so far dodged the inspection process.

PCAOB Chairman Mark Olson, who is leaving his post July 1, said the amendment represents a “pragmatic approach” to the obstacles the inspection process has encountered. “While it will result in a limited delay in the inspection of certain firms, I believe that, where possible, conducting inspections cooperatively with the Board’s non-U.S. counterparts is the most appropriate approach to meeting our inspections mandate for firms located outside of the United States,” Olson said. “The approach promotes strong and consistent oversight of auditors across global markets and also helps to conserve PCAOB resources.”

Board member Steven Harris said it’s a “difficult call” to extend the deadlines for international inspections while also trying to protect U.S. investor interests. He acknowledged investors’ demands to know which firms have not been inspected, not only international firms but also U.S. firms that have not been inspected because they haven’t done any relevant public company audit work. While other-country regulators have bristled at such measures, saying it will punish firms unfairly, Harris said U.S. investors deserve to know which firms have not been inspected so they can factor it into their own investment strategies and risk tolerances.