Auditing
PCAOB Revokes Israel-Based Audit Firm’s Registration, Bars Partner
The sanctions against Weinstein International CPA and Idan Weinstein are for violating rules on three issuer audits.
Dec. 06, 2024
Staff report
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) on Dec. 3 announced a settled disciplinary order sanctioning audit firm Weinstein International CPA, based in Tel Aviv, Israel, and its owner and sole partner, Idan Weinstein, for violating U.S. auditing rules and standards in connection with three issuer audits.
“To protect investors, the PCAOB will not hesitate to take enforcement action against auditors who fail to perform audits in accordance with PCAOB rules and standards,” PCAOB Chair Erica Williams said in a statement.
The PCAOB found that during the audits of three different issuers, the accounting firm and Weinstein committed multiple violations in several areas, including failing to:
- Obtain sufficient audit evidence;
- Exercise due professional care and professional skepticism; and
- Resolve inconsistencies with respect to related-party transactions, intangible assets, and cash balances.
Additionally, the firm failed to establish, implement, and monitor adequate quality control policies and procedures to provide reasonable assurance that firm personnel would comply with applicable professional standards. As the accounting firm’s owner, Weinstein directly and substantially contributed to these quality control violations, the PCAOB said.
“This case highlights the PCAOB’s continued commitment to hold auditors accountable for failures to approach their audits with due professional care and professional skepticism, particularly when the failures involve multiple audits and inconsistent audit evidence,” said Robert Rice, director of the PCAOB’s Division of Enforcement and Investigations.
Without admitting or denying the findings, the audit firm and Weinstein consented to the disciplinary order, which:
- Censures them;
- Bars Weinstein from being an associated person of a registered public accounting firm, with a right to petition to re-associate after three years;
- Revokes the firm’s registration, with a right to apply to re-register after three years; and
- Requires the firm to review and certify its quality control policies prior to submitting any future registration application.
The PCAOB would have imposed a joint and several civil money penalty of $75,000 on the firm and Weinstein but determined not to do so after consideration of their financial resources.