Bee Corp., a small public company, merged with a privately held audit client of Black & Company (Black). Bee wished to engage Black to audit the combined company, which will file reports with the SEC. From an independence perspective, what impact will the merger have with respect to the audit of the combined company?

A.) Black will need to request permission from the SEC to perform the audit

B.) Black will need to perform a regulatory compliance review

C.) Black will need to comply with the SEC independence rules

D.) Black will need to apply the conceptual framework approach