The Securities and Exchange Commission promoted deputy chief accountant Sagar Teotia to chief accountant on Wednesday, succeeding Wesley Bricker, who stepped down in May.
As the new chief accountant at the SEC, Teotia will act as the principal advisor to the commission on accounting and auditing matters, as well as lead the 45 staff members in the SEC’s Office of the Chief Accountant. He also will be responsible for assisting the SEC with overseeing the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. The SEC’s Office of the Chief Accountant is responsible for establishing and enforcing accounting and auditing policy along with improving the professional performance of public company auditors.
“I am honored and excited about the opportunity to serve as the SEC’s Chief Accountant and to continue to work for the benefit of investors across the country,” Teotia said in a statement. “It is a privilege to lead the exceptional staff of the Office of the Chief Accountant and to work together with the different participants in financial reporting, both domestically and internationally. I look forward to continuing to promote improvements in financial reporting and to ensure investors continue to receive high-quality financial information.”
Teotia has been deputy chief accountant since 2017 and has served as acting chief accountant since Bricker’s departure (see Bricker to step down as SEC chief accountant). Teotia began his career at the SEC as a professional accounting fellow in the Office of the Chief Accountant from 2009 to 2011 before leaving for a job at Deloitte as a partner in the firm’s national office responsible for providing consultation regarding accounting matters. He rejoined the SEC in 2017 from Deloitte. He received a B.S. in accountancy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
“In his role as acting chief accountant, Sagar has skillfully continued the exceptional leadership of the office and clearly has the support of his colleagues,” said SEC chairman Jay Clayton in a statement Wednesday. “I am pleased he will continue to promote the importance of effective financial reporting and auditing both domestically and internationally.”
SEC deputy chief accountants Marc Panucci (left) and Sagar Teotia take questions from the press at Financial Executives International’s Current Financial Reporting Issues conference
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