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Auditor’S Independence: Increasing Expectations And Expanding Responsibilities In The Early 1930s, Diane H. Roberts

Accounting

Auditor independence is an aspect of professional ethics crucial to user confidence in contemporary times and the early 1930s. Primary sources that reflect the thinking of the leaders of the accounting profession in the United States are examined to determine the profession's stance on independence issues. The period examined begins with the stock market crash of October 1929 and ends with the American Institute of Accountants' (AIA) fiftieth anniversary meeting in 1937. Thus both events leading up to and immediately following the passage of US Federal Securities Acts of 1933 and 1934 are examined. Although ownership interests in clients and …