The SEC has scheduled a public meeting tomorrow Wednesday to discuss the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). In a preview story -- Some Accuse SEC of Pushing Accounting Board, Tilting to Business in Rules Process -- by Marcy Gordon of the AP, investor protection experts express serious concerns:

"This is an effort to make sure that investors never learn about material weaknesses" in companies' financial controls, said Lynn Turner, a former chief accountant at the SEC.

Barbara Roper, director of investor protection at Consumer Federation of America, said the SEC move was a way of gutting Sarbanes-Oxley's internal-controls requirement, called Section 404, "without openly repealing it." "This is just the SEC pandering to business interests by rolling back a regulation that has proven to be effective," Roper said.