Wesley Bricker is stepping down as chief accountant of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after three years in the position.
The SEC said Bricker will leave the agency in June and, on his departure, deputy chief accountant Sagar Teotia will serve as acting chief accountant.
“Wes is both the consummate professional and model public servant,” SEC Chairman Jay Clayton said in a news release. “From the first day I met Wes, I was impressed by the depth of his knowledge and his commitment to high-quality standards for the benefit of our markets and our investors.”
As chief accountant, Bricker is the principal adviser to the commission on accounting and auditing matters. He joined the SEC from PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2015, serving as deputy chief accountant until he was promoted in 2016.
During his three-year tenure, he oversaw the implementation of new accounting standards for revenue recognition and leasing, emphasized the role of audit committees in financial reporting and oversight, and worked with the audit regulator to advance the most substantial changes in the auditor’s report in more than seven decades.
Bricker also served as chair of the Monitoring Group, a group of international financial institutions and regulatory bodies that aims to improve international audit standard-setting and audit quality, and developed a framework for reporting and disclosing the income tax accounting implications of the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
Teotia, who joined the SEC from Deloitte in 2017, has led the commission’s accounting group as deputy chief accountant.
“I am grateful that Sagar has agreed to take on this important role, and I have no doubt that he will pick up right where Wes left off leading the commission’s talented group of accounting and audit professionals,” Clayton said.
