The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board on Monday announced Mark Adler, former acting director of its Division of Enforcement and Investigations, is leaving. He has been with the PCAOB for more than nine years.
Adler joined the PCAOB as deputy chief trial counsel in December 2010 and was promoted to deputy director, chief trial counsel in the PCAOB’s Division of Enforcement and Investigations in May 2014. In these roles, Adler oversaw and litigated complex enforcement proceedings. Most recently, Adler served as acting director of the Division from June 2018 to January 2020; Patrick Bryan was named to the director role in December and took over from Adler.
“During [Adler’s] tenure, the Division brought significant cases that addressed serious auditor misconduct at large and small audit firms involving both U.S. and non-U.S. auditors,” the PCAOB said. “The cases included significant audit violations involving a lack of due care and professional skepticism, breaches of auditor independence rules, improper alterations to audit documentation, and non-cooperation with PCAOB inspectors.”
Adler also represented the PCAOB in the Enforcement Working Group of the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators, leading workshops on a variety of enforcement topics. He joined the PCAOB after 13 years in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement, where he served both as acting chief and deputy chief litigation counsel.
Before his tenure at the SEC, Adler spent more than nine years at the Department of Justice, where he investigated, prosecuted, and tried major white-collar criminal cases.
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