One of the country’s most influential courts has asked the nation’s top securities regulator for its views on an uncomfortable subject: whether audit reports by outside accounting firms actually matter.

The court already ruled that, at least in one case, they didn’t. That case, where an insurer overstated profits and an auditor signed off on its books, led to an investor lawsuit against the auditor that was dismissed. In its ruling, the court said the audit report was so general an investor wouldn’t have relied on it.