COMMISSIONER HUNT: Well, first, obviously, we want to thank all of you for taking the time to appear before us on what we regard as an important series of issues.

Goldwasser, I really appreciate your being forthright with us in terms of the positions you took that are contrary to some of the proposals in our rules because we need to hear from all sides of this from everybody, and we will take your comments into serious consideration.

I’m sorry you disapprove of our voluntary program with respect to the other auditing firms, but I think, as the Chairman explained, we thought under the — if you will give us all the money we need, we would go about doing something else even at this late date.

But as you know, we don’t have that kind of resources, but I do appreciate very much your forthrightness in talking to us about your views.

King, I appreciate your comments on the valuation of assets in a merger and acquisition position and how if the same firm is doing it originally and doing it in the final analysis that almost creates an obvious conflict ofinterest.

Mr

You’re not going to put as much time online installment loans Hopewell bad credit into auditing your own firm’s work as you would put in as an audit firm evaluating your firm’s work. I mean, that’s just human nature. “We’ve done it once. ” So that is a real conflict.

I think I agree with you that there might be an increase in cost, but I think for most firms, although I am more concerned about the smaller firms, the small banks that have been talked about here, the country banker, I think the Chairman mentioned, for some small firms, the separation of the services may impose a considerable burden vis-a-vis the size of those firms.

But overall I think that the possible increase in cost that arise if an audit firm is precluded from being the original evaluater of assets is well worth, in most cases, the marginal cost that will be increased in a merger or acquisition. So I appreciate that comment.

And Patel, thank you for coming. Thanks for your views as an auditor, a former CPA and a securities lawyer. We still are trying to be the investor’s advocate. I hope we will continue to satisfy you that we are. So thank you very much all.

COMMISSIONER CAREY: I’d also like to echo Dean Hunt’s remarks in thanking all of you for being here. I wantto particularly thank Patel, who, as a young professional, had to undertake some sacrifice to spend a day here with us, and I applaud you for that.

I do want to add one point of clarification, which is on our look-back, and that that was a voluntary agreement, and we often do enter into voluntary agreements when we are able to assess that it would benefit investors to be able to reach a consensus agreement and be able to move forward from there. And I think that this was a very well-made decision, and I thank you.

I apologize for not being here for all of the panel

COMMISSIONER UNGER: Not to be outdone by my colleagues, I join them in their thanks to you. Unfortunately, I had some previous engagements I couldn’t get out of.

I do think that you raised an interesting point, though, which really goes to, perhaps, a more fundamental question of independence. Does the person who pays the bill, can they ever actually be independent, or can the audit ever actually be independent?