Texas State Board Report, Volume 58, January 1996 Page: Front Cover
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TxD
A300(
ATiNG
AUSTIN, TEXAS
VOL. 58-
JANUARY, 1996
!0Published quarterly by the Texas State
Board of Public
Accountancy
9 6-3 33 APR 0 1996
Maresh comments on AmEx lawsuit"Apparently in Texas
where we need to be
got a program that a
objective of protectin
interest. " Fra)cent decision issued by the United
District Court for the Northern Dis-
Florida, reaffirms the Texas State
of Public Accountancy's approach to
ting CPAs who practice through non-
rms, according to the chairman of the
Board, Frank Maresh. On December
195, Chief Judge Maurice M. Paul
that a provision of Florida law which
des a Florida CPA from truthfully in-
g clients that he is a CPA when prac-
through an unregistered firm, is a
on of the commercial free speech
tions of the first amendment to the
I States Constitution. The court also
, however, that a disclaimer require-
that would allow the CPA to hold
f out in a non-misleading manner
permissible regulatory activity.
"Although
I'm not sur-
we're right prised, it's al-
ways reassur-
, and we've ing to hear that
chieves our the opinion
from the North-
g the public ern District of
Florida is con-
ank W. Maresh sistent with the
Texas regula-
tions," stated
h. "We believed all along when theUnited States Supreme Court issued its
decision in lbanez [lbanez v. Florida Board
of Accountancy 114 S. Ct. 2084, 129 L. Ed.
2nd 118 (1994)] that the Texas Board
needed to direct greater attention to a CPA's
conduct and less attention to "holding out"
as that term is defined in the Texas Public
AccountancyAct. Apparently in Texas we're
right where we need to be, and we've got a
program that achieves our objective of pro-
tecting the public interest."The court dismissed American Express
from the lawsuit for lack of standing, finding
that the Florida Board's regulation was di-
rected toward the individual CPA and not
the firm. The court further found, however,
that a state cannot completely suppress the
dissemination of concededly truthful infor-
mation about a lawful activity merely be-
cause the state is fearful of the information's
effect on its recipients. The court found that
the State of Florida produced no empirical
evidence to support its concerns and that it
is more beneficial to protect the public's
right to make an informed decision about
the services they purchase through full dis-
closure of all relevant information.
Maresh believes that the Texas Board is
out front in addressing this situation. He
emphasized that CPAs in Texas who are
licensed and in good standing may certainly
call themselves CPAs and, in general, may
also practice in unregulated firms so long as
they do not perform audits, compilations, or
reviews and so long as they disclose that
the firms are "Not qualified to register with
the Texas State Board of Public Accoun-
tancy to practice public accountancy in
Texas." Maresh stated that this was ad-
dressed by the Board principally in Board
rules 501.40 and 501.4 several months ago
after visiting the issue for about two years.
Judge Paul emphasized in his conclud-
ing remarks that his decision was not say-
ing that the state cannot lawfully restrict
unlicensed individuals or firms from using
certain professional designations or regu-
late the practice of professions by individu-
als or firms. The court made it clear that the
state's absolute ban on holding out by ac-
tively licensed accountants at unlicensed
firms is inappropriate. OU OF NT DEP. LIBRARIES 76203
.6 R299 V.58
O >"..."..'4
TEXAS STATE
ACTIONi
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Texas State Board of Public Accountancy. Texas State Board Report, Volume 58, January 1996, periodical, January 1996; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1031913/m1/1/?q=Lamar+University: accessed July 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.