Research paper 1 Overview On December 15, 2015 the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) issued a new rule regarding the disclosure of the engagement partner and other participants in audits of public companies. This rule concluded over six years of debate regarding this issue. You have access to a wealth of materials, including the Concept Release, Proposed Rule, Reproposed Rule, Supplemental Request, Board Member statements, four sets of comment letters and meeting transcripts on the PCAOB’s website: (http://pcaobus.org/Rules/Rulemaking/Pages/Docket029.aspx) Your assignment is to write a research paper describing your expectations for the consequences, both intended and unintended, of the new rule. Consider the following questions to help structure your thinking:  Who currently knows the identity of the engagement partner?  Who will benefit from the new disclosure information? How?  What are the potential costs of the information? Who would bear the costs?  How will users interpret the disclosures? This is a critical thinking project, which means you should research this topic and write a relevant, thoughtful paper. Note: The bullet points above are given simply to help you begin and organize your thought process and do not present a complete list of issues related to the topic. Further, there is a tremendous body of material at your disposal to inform your paper. Format Instructions  Length: 2200 words (on double-spaced pages) PLUS a list of references (make sure you follow an appropriate introduction, conclusion and reference format).  Margins: 1” (Left justification ONLY).  Font: Times New Roman, 12 point.  Headings and Subheadings: Use them as appropriate.  Page Numbers: Required at the bottom of your page, with the first page of your writing holding the first page number. References You must provide proper citations for all references used to avoid plagiarism. Any direct quotes must be indicated as such. You must include at least FIVE unique references, not including the PCAOB Release or the Journal of Accountancy article that I provided. (Wikipedia.com, blogs, websites and your textbook do NOT count as references!) Include references in your paper using the author/year (Pawlewicz 2013) parenthetical citation method with the full citation listed in the reference section (i.e., do not use footnotes to list your references). A wealth of excellent resources exists at your disposal. I encourage you to use popular and business press articles (New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Business Week, The Economist, etc.) practitioner journals (Journal of Accountancy, CPA Journal, Accounting Today, etc.) and academic journals (The Accounting Review, Accounting Horizons, Auditing, etc.) to inform your research. You have access to these and many more through George Mason University’s Library website.