The USA Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has appointed Republican USA Senate lawyer William Duhnke as the new chair of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).

Duhnke who is currently staff director and general counsel to the USA Senate Committee on rules and administration, will replace Jim Doty who served as the chair of the PCAOB board since 2011, effective early next year.

The SEC also announced the appointment as PCAOB board members of University of Denver professor Robert Brown, Promontory Financial Group global leader of securities and Fintech services and senior strategic adviser on cyber solutions Kathleen Hamm, PricewaterhouseCoopers partner James Kaiser and Exelon Corporation senior vice president Duane DesParte.

Current board members Steve Harris, Lewis Ferguson and Jeanette Franzel will step down and the transition to the new board will happen in early 2018.