NEW YORK, May 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- PwC US today announced that Kayla Gillan, formerly Deputy Chief of Staff to Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro, is joining the firm as a principal in the Assurance practice's newly created Regulatory Relations Group.  Ms. Gillan will take on a leadership role working closely with PwC's leadership in helping drive continuous improvement in audit quality.

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While at the SEC, Ms. Gillan worked on a wide array of projects, including creating the SEC's first-ever Investor Advisory Committee, facilitating field hearings on the state of the municipal securities market and coordinating the SEC's implementation of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

Ms. Gillan, 52, was a founding board member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), where she served from 2003 to early 2008.  Ms. Gillan joined the PCAOB after serving for 16 years at the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), including six years as its General Counsel.  Immediately prior to joining the SEC in early 2009, Ms. Gillan was chief administrative officer for Risk Metrics Group Inc. (now a part of MSCI).

PwC US Chairman and Senior Partner Bob Moritz said the firm is "extremely fortunate to gain the experience, insights and future contributions of such a highly accomplished professional, one whose career has been dedicated to serving investors and other market participants."  He noted that as investors deal with more demands for timely, relevant, high quality information, PwC is also responding by accelerating its own audit quality initiatives to better serve its stakeholders.  "Kayla Gillan is an example of making the investment to drive this transformation," Mr. Moritz added.

Describing her decision to join PwC, Ms. Gillan said, "I'm delighted to have the opportunity to help PwC as it strives to continually improve audit quality.  This new role will enable me to continue my career's focus, which has been serving the interests of investors.  PwC recognizes that there is often a gap between what investors expect of an audit, and what the audit actually represents -- and the firm is committed to bridging that gap.  I'm excited to have the opportunity to be part of that effort."

Ms. Gillan holds a B.A. from California State University at Sacramento and a J.D. from the University of California at Davis.

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SOURCE PwC