Chain of command
(8) Chain of command means all persons who: (i) Supervise or have direct management responsibility for the audit, including at all successively senior levels through the accounting firm's chief executive; (ii) Evaluate the performance or recommend the compensation of the audit engagement partner; or (iii) Provide quality control or other oversight of the audit. (9) Close family members means a person's spouse, spousal equivalent, parent, dependent, nondependent child, and sibling. (10) Contingent fee means, except as stated in the next sentence, any fee established for the sale of a product or the performance of any service pursuant to an arrangement in which no fee will be charged unless a specified finding or result is attained, or in which the amount of the fee is otherwise dependent upon the finding or result of such product or service. Solely for the purposes of this section, a fee is not a contingent fee if it is fixed by courts or other public authorities, or, in tax matters, if determined based on the results of judicial proceedings or the findings of governmental agencies. Fees may vary depending, for example, on the complexity of services rendered. (11) Covered persons in the firm means the following partners, principals, shareholders, and employees of an accounting firm: (i) The audit engagement team; (ii) The chain of command; (iii) Any other partner, principal, shareholder, or managerial employee of the accounting firm who has provided ten or more hours of non-audit services to the audit client for the period beginning on the date such services are provided and ending on the date the accounting firm signs the report on the financial statements for the fiscal year during which those services are provided, or who expects to provide ten or more hours of non-audit services to the audit client on a recurring basis; and (iv) Any other partner, principal, or shareholder from an office of the accounting firm in which the lead audit engagement partner primarily practices in connection with the audit. (12) Group means two or more persons who act together for the purposes of acquiring, holding, voting, or disposing of securities of a registrant. (13) Immediate family members means a person's spouse, spousal equivalent, and dependents. (14) Investment company complex. (i) Investment company complex includes: (A) An entity under audit that is an: