In a recent no-action letter, the Securities and Exchange Commission said it was okay for a Deloitte & Touche member firm in the United Kingdom to sell actuarial software to SunGard, saying the deal wouldn’t trigger a violation of the SEC’s auditor independence rules.
As most Compliance Week subscribers know, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted rules back in early 2003 that strengthened auditor independence, and required additional disclosures to investors about the services provided to issuers by the independent accountant (see box at right). Provisions of those rules implemented Section 201 of Sarbanes-Oxley, specifying nine non-audit services that, if provided by the accounting firm, would be considered to impair the firm’s independence. Among the banned services were certain actuarial services, as well as certain financial information systems design and implementation.
