Auditor Independence

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) strengthened the rules and regulations governing auditor independence as a result of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Accounting firms must be independent to perform an audit and can lose independence if companies hire certain individuals.

As a result of the complex rules and the Company’s contract with its accounting firm, each candidate must be evaluated for the following: the candidate’s potential involvement with our audit, if the position is a financial reporting oversight role and if the candidate has continuing financial ties with the accounting firm should the candidate accept an offer of employment.

Audit engagement team defined:

Audit engagement team means all partners, principals, shareholders and professional employees participating in an audit, review, or attestation engagement of an audit client, including audit partners and all persons who consult with others on the audit engagement team during the audit, review, or attestation engagement regarding technical or industry-specific issues, transactions, or events.