How Auditors Can Assess Corporate Governance Essay

Corporate governance in itself has no single definition but common principles which it should follow. For example in 1994 the most agreed term for corporate governance was “the process of supervision and control intended to ensure that the company’s management acts in accordance with the interest of shareholders” (Parkinson, 1994)1. Corporate governance code is not a direct set of rules but a self-regulated framework which businesses choose to follow. This code has continued to change in the past 20 years in accordance with what is happening in the business world. For example the Enron scandal caused reform in corporate governance with the Higgs Report which corrected the issues which were necessary. Although it does not quickly fix problems, it gives a better framework to

Presently, corporate governance is an evolving concept as such there is no fixed definition. However, corporate governance has been defined as, “the system by which companies are directed and controlled.” (The Report of the Cadbury Committee on The Financial Aspects of Corporate Governance: The Code of Best Practice 1993)

Phenomenal growth of interest in corporate governance has emerged in recent years. The body of literature on the subject has grown markedly in response to successive waves of large corporate failures. Furthermore, there have been numerous attempts to define what constitutes ‘good corporate governance’ and to provide guidelines in order to enhance the quality of corporate governance.

ITC Ltd.’s strategy plan for compliance with the current acceptable standards or norms relative to social responsibility today is well thought out, especially for a company that sells potentially dangerous products, and try to meet and listen to all demands and laws in place since the start of their business. Even though in 2014 a new bill was passed for the majority of companies to build accountability and also have the government looking over the private sector (Banerjee, 2013). “The CSR provision requires affected companies to spend at least 2 percent of their average net profits made in the preceding three years on CSR” (Banerjee, 2013). Even though this bill has caused a lot of uproar for companies, ITC has actually already been

The article is written to help readers gain a solid understanding the roles of corporate governance, both inside and outside the company. Its goal is simply to impart information, not make claims or arguments on its own. I will be judging it mainly on the sources gathered, numerous examples and explanations given and the overall effectiveness it possesses in effectively communicating its ideas.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘governance’ as ‘the act, manner, fact or function of governing, sway, control’. ‘To govern’ is ‘to rule with authority’, ’to exercise the function of government’, ‘to sway, rule, influence, regulate, determine’, ‘to conduct oneself in some way; curb, bridle (one’s passions, oneself)’, or ‘to constitute a law for’.

Corporate governance lies at the heart of the way businesses are run. Of ten defined as the ‘way businesses are directed and controlled’, it concerns the work of the board as the body which bears ultimate responsibility for the business. Governance relates to how the board is constituted and how it performs its role. It encompasses issues of board

Abstract: On October 11, 2011, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) proposed a new rule. The rule is meant to name the engagement partner and other key participants who play a role in preparing audit reports. PCAOB believes that new rule would help to get more information and would be useful to investors, creditors and other financial statements users. After six years of debate over the intended and unintended consequences the PCAOB concluded and issued the rule on December 15, 2015.The objective of my research was to reflect my expectations for the consequences, both intended and unintended of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board of the new rule. The PCAOB’s final article “Improving the transparency of audits: Rules to require disclosure of certain audit participates on a new PCAOB form and related amendments to auditing standards” release No. 2015-008 issued on December 15, 2015 was very crucial for my research because it gives first hand perspective of the new rule.

Corporate governance explains the official rule and regulative parameters for controlling and overseeing the entity (Cascarino, 2012, pg. 131). Responsibilities following the audit committee include keeping up to date safe guards and flow of communication with the auditors (Dogas, C., 2015). Corporate governance clearly explains the “rules, processes, and laws under which entities are operated, regulated, and controlled and includes such the board of directors and the audit” (Cascarino, 2012, pg. 131). After the effects were felt of the first large fraudulent crime of Enron and WorldCom, “the United States enacted the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) with the plan to widen the duties of auditors, management, audit committees, and boards of directors” (Cascarino, 2012, pg.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act has a direct effect on corporate governance, and it is the strengthening of audit committees at public companies. This audit committee members oversees the company’s the management accounting decisions and gain new responsibilities such as approving numerous audit and non-audit services, selecting and overseeing external auditors, and handling complaints regarding the management’s accounting practices (Blokhin, 2015). There has been increased attention to corporate governance resulted from the passage the Sarbanes-Oxley Act; therefore, this paper is going to address about three ways, management oversight, internal control, and ethical conduct, which are responsible for a company’s accounting information have been affected.

INTRODUCTION There has been considerable interest in recent years in the role of the audit committee as a key corporate governance mechanism. Corporate governance committees and regulators around the world have addressed the need for effective audit committees, with many requiring that listed companies must have a committee (European Union (EU) 8th Company Law Directive, 2006; Smith Report, 2003; United States (US) Congress, 2002). Recognising that the existence of a committee does not guarantee that the committee will be effective, attention has moved to the composition and activities of audit committees. Recommendations have focused on the independence and expertise of committee members and the frequency of committee

Corporations should set up an effective audit committee to oversight the company operation. If company lack of an effective governance mechanism will lead to manager’s corruption. There is a conflict interests and a lack of surveillance of management by the audit committee contributed to the Enron collapse in 2001(Li,2010,p37). ASX gives some recommendations about how to make up an effective audit committee. An effective audit committee should be constituted all of non-executive directors ,a majority of them are independent directors, and there are at least there members. These ways can effectively improve the quality of financial report, establish an honest atmosphere, and improve the confidence of public to financial report’s truth and objectivity. An effective audit committee also should have a formal charter to more competently perform the audit committee’s duties(ASX,2010,pp26-28). These recommendations make corporate governance under oversight to take a more ethical operation.

Corporate governance is a model in which processes and relations by which corporations are controlled and directed. It can also be defined as a system of laws and authoritative approaches by which corporations are directed and controlled. This is achieved by considering the internal and external structures of the corporations. The intentions include monitoring actions of management and directors to moderate agency risks, which may be rooted in the misdeeds of corporate officers. This ensures that these risks and conflicts are prevented and moderated using policies, laws, customs, processes, and institutions that have great impacts on the way a corporation is controlled. This corporate governance has great impacts on firm performance,

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the role of external auditing in promoting good corporate governance. The role of auditors has been emphasized after the pass of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act as a response to the accounting scandal of Enron. Even though auditors are hired and paid by the company, their role is not to represent or act in favor of the company, but to watch and investigate the company’s financials to protect the public from any material misstatements that can affect their decisions. As part of this role, the auditors assess the level of the company’s adherence to its own code of ethics.

Corporate Governance refers to the way a corporation is governed. It is the technique by which companies are directed and managed. It means carrying the business as per the stakeholders’ desires. It is actually conducted by the board of Directors and the concerned committees for the company’s stakeholder’s benefit. It is all about balancing individual and societal goals, as well as, economic and social goals. Corporate Governance is the interaction between various participants (shareholders, board of directors, and company’s management) in shaping corporation’s performance and the way it is proceeding towards. The relationship between the owners and the managers in an organization must be healthy and there should be no conflict between the