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In an interview with Compliance Week, Julie Bell Lindsay, executive director of the Center for Audit Quality, shared her perspectives on how public company auditors are coping with new challenges from the coronavirus pandemic.

It's unquestionable that the current environment has presented the profession with challenges and uncertainties they would not have thought of six months ago,” Lindsay said. “Surely it is making their job more difficult, but auditors have quickly adapted without ever losing their focus on audit quality.

The [Securities and Exchange Commission’s] Chairman [Jay] Clayton recognized early on that continued well-functioning capital markets are an essential component of the U.S. response to and recovery from the current pandemic, and public company auditors are a key gatekeeper in the markets,” Lindsay said. “The SEC has been very active in sharing guidance and expectations, and I have been incredibly impressed with the way the profession has focused on continually ensuring the appropriate actions are taken for the stability and protection of the capital markets.