No / In recent years, corporate failures and accounting irregularities have led to concerns about the effectiveness of audit committees in the financial reporting process. In response, corporate governance committees in different countries have made specific recommendations designed to enhance the role of the audit committee in executing its financial reporting oversight duties. We investigate in this study, the effect of some of the recommendations by empirically examining the relationship between selected audit committee characteristics and the level of disclosure in interim reports of a sample of 262 UK listed companies. Specifically, the audit committee characteristics examined are shareholding of audit committee members (as a proxy for audit committee independence), audit committee size and audit committee financial expertise. Employing both a weighted and unweighted index to measure interim disclosure, the results indicate a significant negative association between shareholding of audit committee members and interim disclosure. Our results provide evidence of a significant positive association between interim disclosure and audit committee financial expertise. We find no significant relationship between audit committee size and the extent of disclosure in interim reports. Overall, however, our results suggest that audit committee characteristics have an impact on its monitoring effectiveness of the financial reporting process. These results have important implications for corporate governance policy-makers who have a responsibility to prescribe appropriate corporate governance structures to ensure that shareholders are protected

This study attempted to discover the role of internal auditors in the professional development of audit committee members, leading to enhanced performance, through the provision of induction programmes and professional development opportunities to committee members, with due regard for the principles of good governance and international best practices. A secondary aim of this study was to propose methods to improve the relationship between the internal audit activity and audit committees in providing additional support to its members. The audit committee's needs and requirements were assessed by using the audit committee charter as the basis in identifying the responsibilities of the committee and the professional development needs of committee members in an organisation. It was found that a framework for the induction and professional development of audit committee members would be most useful to internal auditors to assist audit committees to meet their requirements and improve their performance. / Auditing / M. Com.

La thèse explore la question de l’efficacité des comités d’audit en France : les comités d’audit jouent-ils effectivement leur rôle ? La problématique de l’efficacité de ces comités dans le processus d’évaluation du gouvernement d’entreprise demeure importante dans le contexte français, où les textes (notamment les recommandations de la 8ème directive) restent très imprécis. Une première partie expose les critères d’efficacité et le fonctionnement général des comités d’audit à partir d’un état de la littérature et d’une étude empirique sur des données secondaires. Nous examinons de façon approfondie les principaux déterminants de la diligence d’un comité d’audit. Ce problème est examiné dans le cadre d’une relation d’agence et d’asymétrie d’information. Ainsi, notre étude dépasse le cadre de la simple existence d’un comité d’audit (purement formel), pour s’intéresser de plus près à la capacité de ces comités à protéger effectivement les intérêts des parties prenantes et ceci en renfonçant la qualité du contrôle interne et celle du processus de l’audit externe. / Corporate governance in France has developed considerably in recent years. The strengthening of governance procedures is illustrated by the creation of audit committees, which today exist in virtually all listed companies. However, the issue of the audit committee’s effectiveness in the corporate governance evaluation process remains significant in the French context, where the texts (particularly the recommendations of the 8th European Directive) continue to lack clarity. This thesis aims to contribute to our understanding of the “black box” of governance procedures by studying the way that the audit committee’s characteristics affect the extent of reporting on internal control and risk management procedures and on audit fees. It emphasizes that the mere existence of an audit committee is not sufficient; it also needs to be effective. To be effective it must have the necessary means (composition, diligence, and resources). This study therefore looks beyond the simple existence of the audit committee (purely formal) and focuses on attributes related to its composition, its diligence, and the diversity of its members in order to more closely examine the audit committee’s ability to protect stakeholder interests. To do this, we analyze 176 non-financial French listed companies during a period when establishing an audit committee was voluntary. The results obtained support previous works advocating that audit committees comply with best practice rules for expertise,independence, and diligence and be comprised of experienced and diverse members. Our results raise several questions on the scope of the transposition into French law of the 8th European Directive.

This study attempted to discover the role of internal auditors in the professional development of audit committee members, leading to enhanced performance, through the provision of induction programmes and professional development opportunities to committee members, with due regard for the principles of good governance and international best practices. A secondary aim of this study was to propose methods to improve the relationship between the internal audit activity and audit committees in providing additional support to its members. The audit committee's needs and requirements were assessed by using the audit committee charter as the basis in identifying the responsibilities of the committee and the professional development needs of committee members in an organisation. It was found that a framework for the induction and professional development of audit committee members would be most useful to internal auditors to assist audit committees to meet their requirements and improve their performance. / Auditing / M. Com.

This study focuses on the effectiveness of audit committees in public entities, specifically schedule 3A entities, which are governed by the PFMA. It is clear that the audit committee cannot operate on its own if it wishes to be effective. Management, Internal Audit and External Audit (Auditor General of South Africa) all play significant roles in the effectiveness of the audit committee. Internal Audit and the Auditor General are assurance providers for the audit committee and therefore play an even bigger role in its effectiveness. The independence of these assurance providers is vital, as the audit committee relies on them to obtain an independent view of the effectiveness of controls within the entities. / Graduate School of Business Leadership

Business Management / D. B. L.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-03T18:35:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria_Cristina_Lourenco_dos_Santos.pdf: 684113 bytes, checksum: b7fc34240e66cc7fb121e746793f6f3e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-08-19 / This work aims to report the result of a search relating to the Fiscal Council of a Health Plan corporation, in a medical work cooperative system, in S??o Paulo state, considering two periods of time: before and after of hiring a specialized technical advice for assisting this inspection and control organ. The intention was to analyze what the extent this advice has contributed to the performance of the Fiscal Council. For this, were used the data based on minutes of the organ meetings occurred in the years 2003 to 2004 (before) and 2005 to 2006 (after), an interview with the contracted technical adviser and also the data achieved through a questionnaire applied to two groups of Council members, before and after the technical advice, for knowing how it was developed and its results. The search is a case study of incorporated type, supported by a protocol, being used for that an information triangulation with the document analysis, the interview with the adviser and the questionnaire data. It was used the Cluster Analysis to identify and group the differences and similarities of the groups of council members opinions. The results pointed out the hiring of an independent technical advice contributed for the Fiscal Council performance, providing good Corporate Management practices. / Este trabalho relata o resultado da pesquisa com o Conselho Fiscal de uma operadora de planos de sa??de, na modalidade cooperativa de trabalho m??dico, no Estado de S??o Paulo, considerando dois momentos de tempo: antes e ap??s a contrata????o de uma assessoria especializada para assistir este ??rg??o de fiscaliza????o e controle. O objetivo foi analisar em que medida esta assessoria contribuiu para a atua????o do Conselho Fiscal. Foram usadas como fontes de coleta de informa????es as atas de reuni??es do ??rg??o entre os anos de 2003 a 2004 (antes) e 2005 a 2006 (ap??s), uma entrevista com o assessor contratado, e os dados colhidos com um question??rio aplicado aos dois grupos de Conselheiros, antes e ap??s a assessoria, para um levantamento sobre como a assessoria foi desenvolvida, e seus resultados. A pesquisa ?? um estudo de caso do tipo incorporado, apoiado em um protocolo, e para a qual realizou-se a triangula????o das informa????es obtidas na an??lise documental, entrevista realizada e os dados obtidos com o question??rio. Foi usada a An??lise de Clusters para identificar e agrupar diferen??as e similaridades de opini??es entre os grupos de Conselheiros. Os resultados apontaram que a contrata????o da assessoria contribuiu na atua????o do Conselho Fiscal, proporcionando boas pr??ticas de Governan??a Corporativa.

This study focuses on the effectiveness of audit committees in public entities, specifically schedule 3A entities, which are governed by the PFMA. It is clear that the audit committee cannot operate on its own if it wishes to be effective. Management, Internal Audit and External Audit (Auditor General of South Africa) all play significant roles in the effectiveness of the audit committee. Internal Audit and the Auditor General are assurance providers for the audit committee and therefore play an even bigger role in its effectiveness. The independence of these assurance providers is vital, as the audit committee relies on them to obtain an independent view of the effectiveness of controls within the entities. / Graduate School of Business Leadership

Business Management / D. B. L.

Esta dissertação tem o objetivo de estudar os órgãos técnicos e consultivos da sociedade anônima, em sua configuração mais contemporânea, segundo a qual são mais conhecidos como os comitês da sociedade anônima. Para isso, serão avaliados os movimentos internacionais que têm exercido influência na criação desses órgãos nas companhias brasileiras. Esses movimentos estão intrinsecamente ligados às forças de convergência dos padrões internacionais de governança corporativa, tema que também é apreciado no decurso do trabalho. Após, a dissertação cuidará de avaliar as medidas externadas em âmbito nacional, que demonstram a tendência à adaptação dos referidos padrões internacionais de governança corporativa, com recomendações, e também algumas determinações, para que as companhias criem os comitês nas suas estruturas. Ao final, serão avaliadas algumas consequências jurídicas da implantação dos comitês no Brasil, conforme a concepção moderna que se tem para esses órgãos. / This master\'s degree dissertation aims to discuss the technical and advisory bodies of corporations, contemporarily known as corporate committees. In order to achieve its goals, the study will take into consideration the international trends that have influenced the creation of these bodies in Brazilian companies. These trends are closely linked to an international effort towards the convergence of corporate governance standards, which will also be analyzed in this dissertation. Furthermore, this dissertation will explore the measures taken to substantiate and adapt these international standards of corporate governance to a domestic setting. Such measures include both recommendations and mandatory provisions to create corporate committees. Finally, this dissertation will analyze certain legal consequences of the deployment committees in Brazil, taking into consideration the modern understanding of these bodies.