Final answer:
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) issues auditing standards for the audits of public companies.
Step-by-step explanation:
The organization that issues auditing standards for the audits of public companies is the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).
The PCAOB was created by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, in response to accounting scandals such as Enron and WorldCom. It is a private-sector, nonprofit corporation that oversees the audits of public companies to protect investors and ensure the reliability of financial statements.
The other options listed – SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission), ASB (Auditing Standards Board), and COSO (Committee of Sponsoring Organizations) – are also important entities in the accounting field, but they do not solely issue auditing standards for the audits of public companies.