The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) is a regulatory body established by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to oversee the audits of public companies in order to protect investors and further the public interest in the preparation of informative, accurate, and independent audit reports. It sets auditing and related professional practice standards for registered public accounting firms and conducts inspections, investigations, and disciplinary proceedings concerning those firms' audits of public companies.