The U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) has censured and imposed a US$1-million civil penalty on PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) for violations of the audit rules in connection with its examination and audit of Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. Specifically, PwC auditing Merrill Lynch's compliance with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) customer protection rules, which require brokers to hold certain customer securities in segregated accounts to protect them from creditors in case the broker's business fails.