The SEC's Ultra Vires Recognition of the FASB as a Standard Setting Body

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 conferred upon the Securities and Ex- change Commission (“SEC”) the authority to recognize as “‘generally accepted’ for purposes of the securities laws, any accounting principles established by a standard setting body” provided that the standard setting body met certain conditions. Two weeks after the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was signed into law in July, 2002 the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) and its parent organization, the Financial Accounting Foundation, submitted a letter to the SEC declaring that it met the conditions set forth in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Eight months later, in April, 2003 the SEC issued a policy statement that the FASB did in fact meet the Sarbanes-Oxley criteria.