The First PCAOB Director of Registration and Inspections George Henry Diacont

George Diacont was the first Director of Registration and Inspections for the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). Diacont joined the PCAOB in March 2003, shortly after it commenced operations. His approach was to build a team of highly skilled professionals and encourage them to contribute their best ideas. His leadership style was to support his team, listen to their ideas, and make the best decisions possible without concern for praise or recognition. He also worked to instill a “regulatory attitude” in the former auditors who had become inspectors. This paper describes Diacont’s long and distinguished career in government service beginning with his military service in the U.S. Marine Corps. He spent 24 years at the Securities and Exchange Commission and five years in the Listing Investigation group at the NASDAQ stock market. He served nearly eight years at the PCAOB before he retired in 2011. JEL Classifications: M4.