Dive Brief:

• The Securities and Exchange Commission appointed Demetrios (Jim) Logothetis, a retired partner at Big Four firm Ernst & Young, to the role of chairman for the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, along with three new board members, according to a Friday release.
• Logothetis replaces George Botic, who has served as acting chair for the audit watchdog since July, when Erica Williams stepped down from the post. Botic, a PCAOB “lifer” who joined shortly after its formation in 2002, will continue on as a board member and remain as acting chair until Logothetis is sworn in, the SEC said.
• Logothetis, who logged a 47-year career at EY beginning in 1979, will serve a term as PCAOB chair set to end Oct. 30, 2030. “I am confident that this new board will usher in a new day at the PCAOB — one of sensible, efficient oversight of auditors,” SEC Chair Paul Atkins said in a Friday statement regarding the appointments.

Dive Insight:

Alongside Logothetis, the SEC announced the appointments of Mark Calabria, Kyle Hauptman and Steven Laughton to the board. Calabria currently serves as associate director and chief statistician with the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, as well as a senior advisor to the Office of the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Hauptman is currently the chairman of the National Credit Union Administration, appointed to the position by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the Senate in 2020.

Laughton, meanwhile, currently serves as board counsel to PCAOB member Christina Ho, who announced in December that she would not seek reappointment after her term ends on Oct. 24, CFO Dive previously reported. Crediting her frequent role as a “lone dissenter” in PCAOB votes, Ho called for “common sense” audit regulation by future members of the watchdog in announcing her decision to step down.

The appointments represent the latest twist in a change of fortune for the PCAOB since Atkins, often a critic of the PCAOB and an advocate of less strident regulatory enforcement, took the SEC chair — prompting concern from some regarding the PCAOB’s future.

Last week, the SEC approved a budget for the PCAOB which was cut by 9.4% from the previous year, and slashed compensation for members.

“When we began the search process for new PCAOB board members in July 2025, I highlighted the role that the PCAOB plays in serving the public interest by helping to protect the integrity of public companies through oversight of auditing firms, and thus the broader public markets, in a manner that minimizes unnecessary costs for the public companies and broker-dealers who ultimately fund the PCAOB’s budget,” Atkins said in the Friday statement.