An Era Ends at the POB as A.A. Sommer, Jr., Retires

A.A. Sommer, Jr., ended his tenure at the Public Oversight Board, having served as its chairman from 1986 until 1999 when he was succeeded by Charles A. Bowsher.

Over the last three decades Sommer held a variety of senior posts in which he advocated enhancements in corporate governance, private-sector standard setting for the accounting profession and self-regulation of the auditing profession.

From 1973 to 1976, Sommer served as a commissioner of the SEC and was chairman of its advisory committee on corporate disclosure. He was a member of the AICPA board of directors (1980–1984) and the FASB advisory council (1977–1981), as well as chairman of the National Association of Corporate Directors’ commission on audit committees and chairman of the committee on corporate governance of the American Bar Association’s business law section.

Sommer is counsel to Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, a Washington, D.C., law firm, of which he was a partner from 1979 through 1994.

The POB, an independent, private-sector body, monitors and reports on the activities of the SEC practice section of the AICPA’s division for CPA firms. This oversight helps ensure that firms auditing publicly traded companies in the United States regulate themselves adequately.