Hester Peirce on auditing
From Fireside Chat - SEC Commissioner, Hester M. Peirce & CfPA President, Brian P. Christie · · Crowdfund Holdings Innovators (CHI)
“I think part of what's happened is that there hasn't been enough attention paid to how do we make sure that we're not driving smaller auditing firms out of business because you're not going to have the biggest firms auditing the smallest companies. You need to have some stable of smaller firms out there for competition so that when a company needs an auditor they can find an auditor. And the PCAOB especially the way it's being operated now is really making it very difficult for auditors to audit smaller companies. The cost is really high for the auditors and so we end up in a situation where it is difficult to find an auditor and I worry that that's going to only get worse with some of the work that the PCAOB has started.”
On , Hester Peirce, Commissioner at SEC, spoke about auditing during Fireside Chat - SEC Commissioner, Hester M. Peirce & CfPA President, Brian P. Christie on Crowdfund Holdings Innovators (CHI).
About Hester Peirce
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, who leads the SEC's Crypto Task Force, has been discussing the agency's shift in approach to digital asset regulation during a series of podcast appearances in April and May 2026. Peirce said the SEC "lost time" under its prior approach and described the current direction as moving from "suing first to writing rules first." She noted the agency has issued a five-part token taxonomy classifying sixteen assets as digital commodities, published interpretive guidance, and is working on a rule for capital raising with crypto assets. Peirce also cited the passage of the Genius Act covering stablecoins as an example of progress, while acknowledging that "there's still a lot ahead to be done." Peirce has emphasized that the SEC's role is to write rules for securities, not to determine whether asset prices rise or fall. She stated that "the best way you can protect investors is to make sure there's a dynamic marketplace" and argued for "permissionless innovation" as a baseline principle. Peirce said she would eliminate the accredited investor definition, calling it "contrary to American principles." She also responded to criticism about reduced enforcement numbers, saying that looking at enforcement counts to assess efficacy is "difficult" and that she believed some past enforcement actions were "unjustified." Peirce is preparing to conclude her tenure at the SEC later in 2026.