The Relationship Between Internal Corporate Governance Mechanisms And The Quality Of External Audit Process

An effective system of corporate governance has both internal and external aspects that have to be sufficiently responsive if governance is to succeed. In this book, Ahmed Naciri examines these two core aspects or the latest buzzword in business and management theory. Internal aspects include ownership structure, the board of directors and committees, internal control, risk management, transparency and financial reporting. External aspects can either be market-oriented, or can take the form of credit ranking, and/or social requirements. Due to the original orientation of the Sarbanes/Oxley Law, concentrating solely on financial disclosure and given its decisive and tremendous influence on all other similar corporate governance legislations all over the world, most writings on corporate governance have dealt with solely internal corporate governance mechanisms. This book aim is to fill up the gap by using a systemic approach and giving a global picture of the corporate governance theoretical foundations, mainly by putting the emphasis on its double dimension: internal and external.

The effectiveness and efficiency of the internal corporate governance structure depends on different governance bodies within the organization. As crucial parts of good governance they provide constituting, monitoring and controlling tasks concerning the risk management and internal control system. Hence, these corporate governance mechanisms include the internal control function (IAF) resp. the members of the internal auditing (IA) and the audit committee (AC) that supervise the risk management and internal control system. Our study explores empirically what internal auditors perceive as the IAF's contribution to these aspects of corporate governance. Based on a dataset of 550 responses from U.S. internal auditors, our results suggest that IA's self-perception is characterized as a central element of the governance structure. A significant interaction between the IAF and the AC is positively linked with the efficiency and effectiveness of the governance processes, internal controls and risk management.

Based on a survey between all national Institutes of Internal Auditing in Europe this book shows a widespread picture of European Corporate Governance activities and Internal Audit: - Specific questions regarding the current involvement of Internal Audit in Corporate Governance aspects; - the State of the art of Internal Audit: position, scope and quality management; - Focal points for improving the role of Internal Audit in Corporate Governance in Europe. All insights of the book are concentrated on European companies and offer European solutions for Internal Auditing. They are empirically founded and written in a clear and direct way for practical use. This is the first work for the European profession of Internal Audit that formulates eight focal points for improving the role of Internal Audit in Corporate Governance in Europe. The book shows how Internal Audit can fundamentally strengthen good Corporate Governance.

The audit committee is an important corporate governance mechanism that is responsible for overseeing the company's relations with the external auditor. It thus contributes to ensuring the quality of the external audit and reinforces confidence in the auditor's report. This chapter provides a survey of the state of knowledge on audit committees. Given the recent extensive literature reviews done on the topic, we focus on current issues and review selected contemporary relevant studies. Four issues regarding audit committees are identified: their role regarding the appointment and removal of the external auditor, their role in overseeing non-audit services, their interactions with the auditor, and their role in auditor/management disagreements. Overall, the results of the studies reviewed suggest that “strong” audit committees influence audit quality. They also show that there is room for improvement. Audit committees are not the external auditor's “boss”; they act at a distance in the auditor selection process and in the process of resolving disagreements between auditor and management. Consequently, management still drives the relationships with the auditor, and the audit committee arguably does not play its full role in protecting auditors' independence. Finally, this chapter underlines the need for more studies on how the audit committee exerts its oversight role in practice.

Corporate Governance Post Sarbanes-Oxley introduces a corporate governance structure consisting of seven interrelated mechanisms of oversight: managerial, compliance, audit, advisory, assurance, and monitoring. The book begins with a discussion of the new requirements for corporate governance and financial reporting brought about by Sarbanes-Oxley and then shows how a well-balanced functioning of the seven mechanisms produces a responsible corporate governance structure that ensures quality financial reporting and credible audit services. Each chapter includes checklists, real-world case studies, and best practice tips.

This book discusses the effectiveness of four traditional corporate governance mechanisms: board of directors, audit committee, internal control and audit, external audit) as monitoring and (to a lesser extent) entrepreneurial devices.

This literature review evaluates 146 empirical research studies on audit committees (AC) composition and resources which focus on the period after the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX). I will briefly introduce the theoretical, normative and empirical AC framework that comprises an adequate structure of the state-of-the-art of empirical research in this field. This is followed by a discussion of AC monitoring process which aims to enhance corporate governance quality, and is structured as follows: (1) financial reporting quality; (2) internal audit quality and (3) external audit quality. I will then evaluate the impact of AC on (4) firm performance. I will summarize the key findings in each area, and provide a description of the analyzed proxies for corporate governance quality and firm performance. Finally, I will discuss recommendations for future empirical AC research activities.

This is a practical analysis of the aspects and areas of corporate life that can benefit from the presence of governance and control systems and procedures. These include: board arrangements; executive remuneration; environmental, ethical, health and safety and employment matters; and systems for risk assessment and internal control.