Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-03T18:35:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ademar_Lucas.pdf: 1485296 bytes, checksum: 9ffbcd8ffda7505b281291f57926d773 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-05-01 / One of the main goals of the companies is to have a consistent internal controls system, with not only the objective of attending the legal rules, specially COSO and Corporate Finance, but also get prepared to be in compliance to the daily routines, turning them into a model when compared to the principal competitors and mainly the present and future investors. To attend and obtain the systems and internal controls mechanisms proposed by Sarbanes-Oxley certifications is actually a big challenge for most of the multinational companies registered in SEC (US Securities and Exchange Commission). Lean structures, rare resources with challenging deadlines assume the huge responsibility to attend the requirement that without a vigorous implementation project, in many cases fail or reach the objectives with high costs and end up destroying value instead of generating it. So, due to this scenario, this work has the objective of contributing to the analysis of this methodology, not only to attend the law but to reduce cost and generate value through the strengthen of the internal controls systems, turning them into animating value generation process mechanisms. So, the idea is to identify the main gaps in the theory through the literature revision and a case study in order to put a question to the main deficiencies, strong points or contributions through the evaluation of the noticed practices and the proposition of a model. Finally, we can say that as a result of the research and the analyses made in this case, the vast majority of executives and other employees recognize the benefit that Sarbanes-Oxley Act has brought to the company searched. Also recognize that, although there is still necessity for systemic adequacy and infrastructure, it helps reducing and controlling the risks and reinforce the system of internal controls in all ts areas of expertise. Approach and understand that there is need for a change in the other employees' culture to be inserted in the day-to-day routine as internal controls, attention to Sarbanes-Oxley and Corporate Governance, making the control cost smaller when compared to the benefits generated. / Dentre os principais objetivos das empresas, est?? o de possuir um sistema estruturado de Controles Internos, n??o somente visando o atendimento ??s regras e normas legais, notadamente as de COSO e Governan??a Corporativa, mas tamb??m preparar a empresa para estar em "compliance" com suas atividades rotineiras, bem como representar um referencial delas em rela????o aos seus principais concorrentes e principalmente aos investidores presentes e futuros. Atender e obter a certifica????o dos sistemas e mecanismos de Controles Internos propostos pela Lei Sarbanes-Oxley, ?? atualmente um grande desafio para a maioria das empresas multinacionais que tenha registro na SEC (comiss??o de Valores Mobili??rios dos Estados Unidos da Am??rica). Estruturas enxutas com recursos escassos, com prazos desafiadores assumem a imensa responsabilidade de atender aos requisitos, sendo que sem um projeto robusto de implanta????o, em muitos casos malogram, ou realizam seus objetivos com altos custos e acabam destruindo valor ao inv??s de gerar. Diante desse quadro, o presente trabalho tem como objetivo contribuir para a an??lise dessa metodologia, n??o somente para atendimento ?? Lei, mas para reduzir custos e gerar valor atrav??s do fortalecimento dos sistemas de Controles Internos, transformando-os em mecanismos impulsionadores do processo de gera????o de valor. Para tanto, a id??ia ?? buscar identificar as principais lacunas da teoria atrav??s da revis??o da literatura e da apresenta????o de um estudo de caso, para o levantamento das principais defici??ncias, pontos fortes ou contribui????es atrav??s da avalia????o das pr??ticas percebidas e a proposi????o do modelo. Finalmente, poder-se-ia afirmar que como resultado da pesquisa e das an??lises efetuadas que, no caso sob estudo, a grande maioria dos executivos e demais colaboradores reconhecem o benef??cio que a Lei Sarbanes-Oxley trouxe para a empresa pesquisada. Reconhecem ainda que, apesar de ainda haver necessidade de adequa????o sist??mica e de infra-estrutura, ajuda na redu????o e controle dos riscos e refor??a sobremaneira o sistema de Controles Internos em todas as suas ??reas de atua????o. Abordam e entendem que h?? necessidade de alguma mudan??a na cultura dos demais colaboradores, para que seja inserida no seu dia-a-dia a cultura de Controles Internos, atendimento ?? Lei Sarbanes-Oxley e Governan??a Corporativa, fazendo com que o custo de controle seja cada vez mais reduzido, em rela????o aos benef??cios por eles gerados.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-03T18:35:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Wander_Pinto.pdf: 668393 bytes, checksum: 587017b7a13304e6485dba6f16c61ff5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-09-28 / This research treat of the Audit Companies perception related to the regulatory requirements describe in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002 (Sections 302 and 404) and its respective impacts on the audit risk assessment performed by independent auditors on their audit of financial statements. The general objective, although, is to verify the effect and impact of requirements from the sections 302 and 404 of the SOX for the audit risk assessment for independent auditors. The information were obtained in two phases; on the first phase was performed an exploratory study based on a bibliography research; on the second phase was performed a data collection from a questionnaire sent to all Brazilian Audit Companies which are registered in the PCAOB. The result obtained with the questionnaire add with the concepts explored show that these Brazilian Audit Companies consider the SOX - sections 302 and 404 requirements positive related to the audit risk assessment for the audit of financial statements. / Esta pesquisa trata da percep????o das empresas de auditoria independente a respeito da regulamenta????o prevista na Lei Sarbanes-Oxley - 2002 - SOX (Se????es 302 e 404 da Lei) e de seus impactos na avalia????o de riscos de auditoria enfrentados pelo auditor independente em seu trabalho de exame das demonstra????es cont??beis de uma empresa. O objetivo geral foi, portanto, identificar a percep????o do auditor independente quanto ao impacto das se????es 302 e 404 da SOX na quest??o da avalia????o de risco de auditoria das demonstra????es cont??beis. A coleta de informa????es teve duas etapas. Na primeira, realizou-se um estudo explorat??rio por meio de pesquisa bibliogr??fica. Na segunda etapa, o instrumento de coleta de dados consubstanciou-se em question??rio dirigido a todas as empresas brasileiras listadas no PCAOB . O resultado obtido com o question??rio, alinhado aos conceitos explorados na pesquisa bibliogr??fica, indica que as empresas de auditoria consideram positivas as medidas contidas na referida Lei (se????es 302 e 404) em rela????o ?? avalia????o de riscos de auditoria para trabalhos de auditoria de demonstra????es cont??beis.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-03T18:35:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Junior_Cesar_Rodrigues_de_Castro.pdf: 859787 bytes, checksum: cf5024fc1b06c1d588040ee78e0d148e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-09-01 / This dissertation subject is related to the study of teacher's perception in accounting towards the fulfillment of the audit services attributes after the limitations foreseen by the legal instruments Instruction CVM n? 308/99 and Sarbanes-Oxley about the consulting services. The study main goal is to check the Audit teacher's perception of 14 Academic Masters Programs if the limitations foreseen by the legal instruments Instruction CVM n? 308/99 and Sarbanes-Oxley about the consulting services provided improvement to the fulfillment of the audit services attributes. At first we make a bibliographic review, that is, collecting the main subject concepts and historic in an epigraph. The operational part of the study relates the concepts and main consulting services provided by Big Four in Brazil. After that, talks about the two legal instruments that limited the audit companies acting about providing, at the same time, audit and consulting services to the same client. In Brazil, this limitation was regulated in 1999, when the Instruction CVM n? 308/99 was edited and, in 2002, an akin conduct was adopted in the USA in the promulgation of the Law Sarbanes-Oxley. The text emphasizes the importance of these two legal instruments that contributed to separate the external audit services from the consulting ones, besides becoming a possible way to separate and minimize the margin of interest conflicts between the parts and provide improvement to the fulfillment of the audit services attributes. For the study conclusion, a questionnaire has been answered by the Audit teachers of 14 Academic Masters Programs, in private and public universities, in order to measure their perception about the subject. And we testified that 92% of those teachers who answered the questionnaire agree with the fact that providing the audit and consulting services at the same time to the same client may contribute to the impairment of the attributes in audit, like the independency, the goals and the technical and professional competency. / O tema desta disserta????o est?? relacionado ao estudo da percep????o dos professores em contabilidade quanto ao cumprimento dos atributos dos servi??os de auditoria ap??s as limita????es previstas pelos instrumentos legais Instru????o CVM n?? 308/99 e Sarbanes-Oxley sobre os servi??os de consultoria. O objetivo do estudo ?? verificar a percep????o dos professores da disciplina e/ou ??rea de Auditoria de 14 Programas de Mestrado Acad??mico se as limita????es previstas pelos instrumentos legais Instru????o CVM n?? 308/99 e Sarbanes-Oxley sobre os servi??os de consultoria trouxeram melhoria para o cumprimento dos atributos dos servi??os de auditoria. Inicialmente faz-se uma revis??o bibliogr??fica, ou seja, coleta dos principais conceitos e hist??ricos do assunto em ep??grafe. A parte operacional do estudo relata sobre os conceitos e principais servi??os de consultoria prestados pelas Big Four no Brasil. Trata, em seguida, dos dois instrumentos legais que limitaram o meio de atua????o das empresas de auditoria em prestar concomitantemente, os servi??os de auditoria e consultoria ao mesmo cliente. No Brasil esta limita????o foi regulamentada em 1999, quando editou a Instru????o CVM n?? 308/99 e, em 2002, semelhante medida foi adotada nos EUA quando da promulga????o da Lei Sarbanes-Oxley. O texto enfatiza a import??ncia desses dois instrumentos legais, que contribu??ram para separar os servi??os de auditoria externa dos servi??os de consultoria, al??m de se tornarem um meio poss??vel de distanciamento e minimiza????o das margens de conflitos de interesse entre as partes, e trazerem melhoria para o cumprimento dos atributos dos servi??os de auditoria. Para a conclus??o do estudo, aplicou-se um question??rio aos professores da disciplina e/ou ??rea de Auditoria de 14 Programas de Mestrado Acad??mico em institui????es de ensino superior, p??blicas e privadas, para medir sua percep????o sobre o assunto, e constatou-se que 92% dos respondentes concordam com o fato de que a presta????o simult??nea dos servi??os de auditoria e consultoria a um mesmo cliente pode dar margens para o enfraquecimento dos atributos em auditoria, como por exemplo, a independ??ncia, os objetivos e a compet??ncia t??cnico-profissional.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-04T11:45:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Jose_Carlos_Penha.pdf: 1184679 bytes, checksum: b4481f679814c2f7d3cdb3fb6dda5f07 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005-07-19 / The purpose of this work consists of the exploratory study about the positioning of directors and managers of an eastern multinational subsidiary company established in Brazil, as regards the implementation of the requirements determined for the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for the companies which have American Depositary Receipts negotiated in North American stock exchange. Initially they are presented, from bibliographical and documentary research, the main points of the Act and the management aspects with which it interacts, as risk management, corporate governance and internal controls. In the sequence, the methods and techniques of the research are demonstrated, as well as the argument that substantiated the decision for the use of the case study method as the appropriate strategy for the research. The elaboration of the protocol for the case study consisted in the main tactics to increase the research reliability and to guide the researcher during its development. To collect the data it was elaborated and applied a questionnaire to all directors and managers of the company. The data had been treated by the descriptive Statistics, conjugated with not-parametric techniques (discriminant analysis), for the application of the Kruskal-Wallis test, with the use of SPSS software. After the data collection, treatment, analysis and interpretation, it was gotten answer to the research question, how the company directors and managers will act front to the necessity of the requirements implementation determined for the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The research demonstrated that the directors and managers are conscious of the deficiencies of the current internal control system, corporate governance and risk management. It also demonstrated the necessity of investments for the full attendance to the requirements of the Law. In addition, it was verified that the rules of internal control and corporate governance are not fulfilled by all the employees. It was detected, also, the existence of an appetite for risks, however the culture directed to the risk management is incipient. / O objetivo deste trabalho consiste no estudo explorat??rio sobre o posicionamento dos diretores e gerentes de uma companhia subsidi??ria de multinacional oriental estabelecida no Brasil, quanto ?? implementa????o dos requisitos determinados pela Lei Sarbanes-Oxley para as empresas que possuem American Depositary Receipts negociados em bolsas de valores norte-americanas. Inicialmente s??o apresentados, a partir de pesquisa bibliogr??fica e documental, os principais pontos da citada Lei e os aspectos de gest??o com os quais interage, como gest??o de riscos, governan??a corporativa e controles internos. Na seq????ncia s??o demonstrados os m??todos e t??cnicas da pesquisa e a argumenta????o que embasou a decis??o pela utiliza????o do m??todo do estudo de caso como a estrat??gia mais adequada para a pesquisa. A elabora????o do protocolo para o estudo de caso constituiu-se na t??tica principal para aumentar a confiabilidade da pesquisa e orientar o pesquisador durante o seu desenvolvimento. Para coletar os dados foi elaborado e aplicado question??rio a todos os diretores e gerentes da empresa. Os dados foram tratados pela Estat??stica descritiva, conjugada com t??cnicas n??o-param??tricas (an??lise discriminante), pela aplica????o do teste de Kruskal-Wallis, com aux??lio do software SPSS. Da coleta, tabula????o, an??lise e interpreta????o dos dados obteve-se a resposta ?? quest??o de pesquisa, como os diretores e gerentes da empresa agir??o frente ?? necessidade de implementa????o dos requisitos determinados pela Lei Sarbanes-Oxley. A pesquisa demonstrou que os diretores e gerentes est??o conscientes das defici??ncias dos atuais sistemas de controle interno, governan??a corporativa e gest??o de riscos. Demonstrou tamb??m a necessidade de investimentos para o pleno atendimento ??s exig??ncias da Lei. Subsidiariamente, verificou-se que as regras de controle interno e governan??a corporativa n??o s??o cumpridas por todos os funcion??rios. Foi detectada, tamb??m, a exist??ncia de um apetite para riscos, por??m a cultura voltada ?? gest??o de riscos ainda ?? incipiente.

Whistleblowing är någonting som i dagsläget blir allt mer känt. Edward Snowden och Wikileaks är det första som kommer till tanken när whistleblowing nämns. I den ekonomiska världen förekommer även Enron som en whistleblowing skandal, som många känner till då det är den största företagsskandal som inträffat under modern tid. Whistleblowing definieras som ett verktyg som ska motverka oegentligheter och börjar införskaffas av fler företag. Medan föregående studier undersöker vad som rapporteras, men också vilka individer som blåser i pipan, förekommer det inte någon studie om hur arbetet med whistleblowing faktiskt ser ut i företagen. Därför finns ett intresse att undersöka hur de anställda, de som faktiskt blåser i pipan, uppfattar arbetet med whistleblowing samt vad det leder till. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur arbetet med whistleblowing uppfattas ur en anställds perspektiv, jämföra detta med andra anställda men även chefers uppfattning. Med denna kunskap syftar vi sedan till att fastställa vad det leder till och utifrån teoretiska begrepp kunna ge en insikt i hur arbetet med whistleblowing faktiskt ser ut i ett företag. Undersökningen sker via en abduktiv ansats där teorier om moral, institutionell samt förväntanskap används som hjälp vid tolkning av empirin. En hermeneutisk forskningsfilosofi används och en kvalitativ metod där intervjuer utförts på ett företag. Fem intervjuer som omfattar anställda på olika avdelningar i företaget, vilket ska ge olika perspektiv och uppfattningar så att bästa möjliga svar på forskningsfrågan kan ges samt att syftet kan fastställas. Uppsatsen fastställer att samtliga respondenter uppfattar arbetet med whistleblowing ur ett moraliskt perspektiv. Genom expectancy theory förekommer det dock brister i kunskap om hur whistleblowing faktiskt går till bland de anställda och denna brist bidrar till att många inte vill, eller kommer att använda sig av systemet. Detta gör att whistleblowing blir väldigt institutionellt i organisationen. Det betyder att det endast finns där för att det måste, utan att egentligen användas. Slutligen visar det sig att det finns effekter i form av fördelar och nackdelar, men att det i slutändan lönar sig att arbeta med whistleblowing inom organisationen. / Whistleblowing is currently becoming a more known subject. Edward Snowden and Wikileaks are famous in whistleblowing situations. In the economical world, another famous scandal concerning whistleblowing is Enron. It is the biggest corporate scandal in modern time. The definition of whistleblowing is to prevent misconduct/illegal activities and more companies are starting to implement whistleblowing-systems. While previous studies have investigated matters of whistleblowing and actual whistleblowers, there is no research about how whistleblowing actually exists and is perceived within organizations. Therefore we find an interest in investigating how employees perceive the work of whistleblowing, and what it could lead to. The purpose of this study is to examine how employees perceive the work of whistleblowing and then compare it to other employees and also managers. With help from different theories, a clearer insight can be provided in how the work with whistleblowing actually is perceived within an organization. The research approach is of abductive form, where theories about moral, institutional and expectancy are used as help to interpret the empirical data. A hermeneutic research philosophy is used and a qualitative method with interviews. Five different individuals are interviewed and everyone works in different departments of the company, which should give a wider span of perspectives and perceptions, thus a richer data. From this, a more accurate answer can be provided for the research question and also fulfill the purpose of this study. The conclusions are that the respondents perceive the work with whistleblowing from a moral standpoint. However, flaws are found through expectancy theory in the absence of knowledge about how whistleblowing actually works within the organization. This contributes to the fact that employees does not want and will not use the whistleblowing-system. From these factors whistleblowing becomes more of an institutional tool and is rarely used, however it exists because it has to. Lastly there are effects such as advantages and disadvantages. In the end it proves to be useful to work with whistleblowing within an organization.

This research report examines the cost and benefits of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) on South African companies who have had to comply due to them or their holding companies being listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as well as voluntary adaptors of the code. This report further seeks to identify best practices implemented by these companies.

This research report examines the cost and benefits of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) on South African companies who have had to comply due to them or their holding companies being listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as well as voluntary adaptors of the code. This report further seeks to identify best practices implemented by these companies.

This dissertation includes two essays that examine mergers and acquisitions. In the first essay we examine how pay-for-performance influences the quality of merger decisions before and after Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX). Pay-for performance has a significant positive effect on acquirer returns of 0.9% pre-SOX and 1.1% post-SOX around the three day event window. Bidders with high pay-for-performance pay a 23.3% lower merger premium in listed target acquisitions. The positive effect of pay-for-performance is more important for public target acquisitions overall, for small acquirers pre-SOX, and for large acquirers post-SOX. In the long-run, bidders with high pre-merger pay-for-performance experience 27.6% higher returns after controlling for other merger characteristic. In the second essay we investigate the value of customer/supplier relationships in mergers acquisitions. The findings show that targets (suppliers) with strong customer/supplier relationships obtain higher abnormal returns and higher merger premiums compared to targets with weak customer/supplier relationships. However, targets that have a strong connection with a customer have lower odds of being acquired. Acquirers that purchase targets with strong customer/supplier relationships have negative long-run abnormal returns, suggesting that the acquirers may have overpaid for such targets. Implications of customer/supplier relationships on customers, rivals and competing rivals are presented.

<p>Syfte: Uppsatsens bakgrund är Enronkraschen som skedde i USA år 2001. Kraschen har satt igång mycket betydande diskussioner om de bakomliggande anledningarna, om regelverkens användbarhet och om marknadens kapacitet att snabbt reagera på väsentlig information. Händelserna inom den amerikanska revisionen har skapat en internationell diskussion angående såväl ett ökat fokus på internrevisorernas arbete som företagets system för interna kontrollen. För att kunna utöva en effektiv styrning måste företagsledningen ha en internrevision till sin hjälp. Internrevisorns arbetsuppgifter är att se till att de interna kontrollerna på företaget är tillförlitliga och ändamålsenliga. Syftet med denna uppsats är att klargöra internrevisorns roll och arbetsuppgifter samt definiera internrevision och intern kontroll inom Sarbanes Oxley Act. Vidare har vi för avsikt att redogöra för vad revisorerna anser om den Svenska koden för bolagsstyrning. I syftet ingår även att undersöka hur väl samarbete mellan intern- och externrevisorer fungerar.</p><p>Metod: Vår studie betraktas som kvalitativ av den anledningen att vi har valt att genomföra detaljerade intervjuer med våra undersökningspersoner för att ta reda på vad dessa anser om internrevisors roll på olika företag. Vi samlade sekundärdata i form av litteratur om kritisk samhällsvetenskaplig forskning, om olika metoder som forskaren använder sig av under arbetets gång. Den litteratur vi använde oss av till vår studie var bland annat Internet, bibliotekets databaser där forskarna kan leta efter böcker, artiklar samt fall ur verkligheten. Vi har använt oss av artiklar från tidningen Balans för att kunna få en djupare insikt i det aktuella ämnet. Vi har även studerat tidigare magisteruppsatser som finns bland bibliotekets referens litteratur. Den sökmotor vi använde oss av till största delen var Google.</p><p>Resultat och slutsats: I uppsatsen har vi undersökt hur de interna kontrollerna påverkar internrevisorns roll och arbetsuppgifter inom företagen samt internrevisorernas samarbete med externrevisorer. Vi har dragit slutsatsen att alla stora företag med en hög omsättning bör ha en internrevisor. Internrevisorns närvaro kan bidra till ett bättre resultat för verksamheten och samtidigt kan det underlätta det arbete som externrevisorn utför.</p><p>För att internrevisorns verksamhet skall uppfattas som positiv och som en tillgång för företaget måste internrevisorn placeras under styrelsen eller Revisionskommittén eftersom företagets VD och ekonomichef involveras i granskningen. Detta ger signaler till organisationen att internrevisionen är viktig och även visar att internrevision som funktion accepteras av företagsledningen. En bra strukturerad organisation med god kommunikation genom de olika beslutsorganen är viktig för att internrevisorn inte ska betraktas som polis eller motståndare i organisationen. Samarbetet mellan internrevisorn och externrevisorn är avgörande för det slutliga resultatet. Externrevisors uppgift är att se till att få tillräcklig information från internrevisorn för att kunna skriva en revisionsberättelse medan internrevisors roll är att bistå externrevisorn med underlag om hur företagets kontrollprocesser fungerar.</p><p>Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Det skulle vara intressant att undersöka om internrevisorernas roll i olika företag kommer att förändras som en följd av Sarbanes Oxley Act. Ytterligare en intressant uppgift skulle vara att få studera i vilken utsträckning SOX kommer att påverka internrevisionen på svenska företag och vilka nya funktioner som internrevisorer i Sverige kommer att få. Att ingående studera samarbetet mellan intern- och externrevisorer skulle också vara ett intressant uppslag. Då det inte är så många externrevisorer som kommunicerar med sina kollegor.</p><p>Uppsatsens bidrag: Vi hoppas att denna uppsats kommer att vara till inspiration och vägledning för de studenter som kommer att arbeta inom revisionsyrket.</p> / <p>Aim: The background of this paper is the collapse of Enron which took place in the USA in 2001. The crash of this huge financial conglomerate gave rise to many discussions. Among them were: how the laws are being followed as well as the market’s capacity to react to important information quickly. These events gave rise to an international discussion about both the importance of the work that internal auditors do and the companies system for internal control. In order to govern the company correctly its leaders should have an internal auditor whose task is to make sure that internal control in the company is reliable and appropriate. The aim of this paper is to learn what internal audit and control are according to Sarbanes Oxley Act, as well as to find out what role and tasks the internal auditor has in different companies. We have also looked into the problem of what different auditors think about the Swedish code for corporate governance as well as how well the cooperation between internal and external auditors functions.</p><p>Method: Our search is qualitative because we have chosen to make detailed interviews with our respondents in order to find out what they think of the role of the internal auditor in different companies. The secondary information that we have gathered consists of literature on critical scientific research, on different methods that the researcher uses while writing the paper. The sources that we used were Internet, the library’s database where we could search for books, articles and real cases. We used some articles from a Swedish newspaper Balans in order to get a deeper understanding of the subject we were writing about. We have even studied earlier papers that we could find among the library’s reference literature. Google was also a good means of searching for relevant information.</p><p>Result and conclusions: In this paper we have examined how internal control influences the role of the internal auditor and how internal and external auditors cooperate and communicate with each other. We have come to a conclusion that all big companies with big financial resources should have an internal auditor because he might contribute to a better result of the company and can make it easier for the external auditors to do their job.</p><p>In order to see an internal auditor as a positive resource in the company he should be placed under management or the Committee of the auditors, because the company’s chief and economic advisors are involved in the company’s review. This might give signals to the organization that internal audit is important and that it is a function which should be accepted by the company’s management. A well- structured organization with good communication through different levels is important so that the internal auditor is not viewed as a policeman or someone who is acting against the organization.</p><p>Cooperation between internal and external auditors is very important when it comes to the company’s final result. The task of the external auditor is to get enough information from the internal auditor in order to write down a final report. The internal auditor should assist the external auditor in giving the information about how the company’s process of internal control works.</p><p>Suggestions for future research: It would be interesting to make a research about how the role of the internal auditor is going to change as a result of Sarbanes Oxley Act. It would also be interesting to find out how SOX is going to influence internal audit at Swedish companies and what new work tasks internal auditors are going to have in the future. It’s important to learn how internal and external auditors are going to cooperate with each other in the future because there are not so many external auditors that communicate with their colleagues on a daily basis.</p><p>Contribution of the thesis: We hope that this thesis can inspire the students who are going to work as auditors in the future.</p>

<p>Under slutet av 1900-talet och början av 2000-talet skakades USA av stora redovisningsskandaler. Som en följd av dessa skandaler infördes den amerikanska lagen SOX år 2002 för att återskapa förtroendet för bolagens finansiella rapporter. Även Sverige drabbades av redovisningsskandaler, främst Skandia-affären, vilket resulterade i att Bolagskoden uppkom. Då bolag agerar på fler marknader än den inhemska kan problem uppstå med vilka redovisningsstandarder som bolagen skall efterfölja. Uppsatsen ämnar undersöka om Bolagskoden bör harmoniseras med SOX, när det gäller den interna kontrollen. För att kunna besvara denna frågeställning har fyra delsyften tagits fram. Tillvägagångssättet för uppsatsen grundar sig på en kvalitativ ansats då regelverken som jämförs är av kvalitativ karaktär. Data inhämtas till största delen från skriftliga källor och kompletteras med en undersökning av 15 bolags årsredovisningar samt intervjuer. De teorier som är relevanta för uppsatsen är Bolagsstyrning, Intressentmodellen, COSO-modellen, Agentteorin samt CSR. Författarna har även använt vetenskapliga artiklar och tidigare forskning för att erhålla ytterligare djup i diskussionerna. Bolagskoden omfattar alla börsbolag på A-listan samt de bolag på O-listan med ett marknadsvärde överstigande 3 miljarder kronor. Syftet med Bolagskoden är att förbättra bolagsstyrningen och den interna kontrollen samtidigt som kunskapen och förtroendet för bolagens redovisning ska förstärkas. Koden verkar som ett komplement till Aktiebolagslagen. Grundprincipen är ”följ eller förklara”. Avvikelser ska motiveras av bolagen. En bolagsstyrningsrapport med information om hur Bolagskoden tillämpas skall bifogas bolagens årsredovisning. SOX är en lag som berör alla bolag, såväl amerikanska som utländska, som agerar på den amerikanska marknaden. Bolag kan även beröras av SOX indirekt genom att de sköter en del av bolagens verksamhet via outsourcing eller är underleverantörer. Syftet med lagen är att återställa investerarnas, de anställdas samt den aktieköpande allmänhetens förtroende för noterade bolag samt att garantera att den information som finns i den finansiella rapporteringen stämmer med verkligheten. Efter genomgång av de 15 utvalda bolagen fann författarna att bolagen har en tendens att avvika från samma punkter. Dessa är: 2.1.2 och 2.1.3 som behandlar valberedningen, 3.8.2 som behandlar bolagens revisionsutskott samt 4.2.1 som behandlar ersättningsutskott och dess oberoende. Uppsatsen visar att det existerar skillnader mellan regelverken. Den primära skillnaden är att Bolagskoden grundar sig på ”följ eller förklara”- principen. SOX däremot grundar sig på ”följ”- principen. Författarna anser att vissa av regelverkens skillnader kan användas för att utveckla Bolagskoden till det bättre. En harmonisering av Bolagskoden och SOX bör ske gällande dessa skillnader. Den ökade globaliseringen leder till att mer enhetliga redovisningsstandarder efterfrågas, vilket är problematiskt då nationernas redovisningstraditioner och samhällsstrukturer skiljer sig markant åt. Att implementera SOX fullt ut i Sverige skulle troligtvis inte fungera i praktiken då Sverige generellt sett inte har samma hårda sanktionssystem mot brott som USA har. En kompromiss mellan regelverken skulle kunna öka incitamentet för ansvarstagande och skapa en bra miljö för god redovisningssed anser författarna. Genom denna uppsats har författarna kommit fram till att Bolagskoden inte fungerar i sin nuvarande form, men att applicera SOX fullt ut är inte ett alternativ. Författarna förespråkar en striktare regelsamling än den som existerar i Sverige.</p>