Characteristics of Audit Committee and Effectiveness of Its Internal Control

The Audit Committee is a very important part in the enterprise, its main role is on behalf of the Board of Directors to review, monitor and evaluate the cotnpany＇ s internal control. Playing the role of the audit committee can help prevent the economic crisis because of poor management, prevent the phenomenon of corporate embezzlement and accounting fraud. It is an important role in internal control. The thesis begins with an introduction to the Audit Committee, and analyzes the characteristics of Audit Committee and effectiveness of internal controls.

Effectiveness of Supervisory Boards in Coordination With Audit Committees in China

China＇s supervisory mechanism is peculiar in that it integrated the supervisory board （SB） of the German corporate governance （CG） model in 1993, and has simultaneously adopted the audit committee （AC） of the Anglo-American model since 2002. This paper aims to reveal the effectiveness of SBs in coordination with ACs in China. The regulations for Anglo-American and Chinese systems are compared and further evidence is provided through interviewing two governors of all listed companies in the SSE and of 79 investment corporations in Hangzhou. Both statements indicate that China still faces difficulties and problems in meeting the two indexes of independence and expertise of supervision to give effective supervisory functions. Both opinions differed in terms of the co-ordination of SBs and ACs in the future. The evidence presented forms a basis for proposals of how key characteristics of effectiveness and co-ordination can be improved to make supervisory functions in China more effective.

Audit Committee, Value Creation Efficiency and Capital Employed Efficiency

This study contributes a number of innovative and interesting empirical findings with a view of four audit committee characteristics to predict overall value creation efficiency and capital employed efficiency using value added intellectual coefficient （VAICTM） method. Using purposive sampling, 34 property, real estate, and building construction firms listed on Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2011 were selected. Empirical findings could not provide a significant relationship between audit committee characteristics and the overall value creation efficiency as well as capital employed efficiency. This implies that currently, the number of members, number of meetings, number of independent commissioners, and accounting or finance expertise in audit committee cannot be expected as drivers of business value creation in Indonesian context, more specifically for property, real estate, and building construction industry. The overall lack of significant relationships may potentially result from limited human capacity, lack of financial expertise, and inadequate knowledge about the role of audit committee to add value to the business.

Audit Committee Attributes on Audit Fees： The Impact of Malaysian Code of Corporate Governance （MCCG） 2007

The evolution of corporate governance has created a competitive environment among the companies to catch the attention of investor＇s confidence. This paper aims to examine the relationship between the audit committee attributes and the audit fees. Specifically, this paper aims to examine the effects of audit committee expertise （number of financial-related director＇s trainings and experience） on audit fees. The data are obtained from annual reports of the population of Bursa Malaysia listed companies for both Main and Ace markets in year 2008. The results show that audit committee size is significant and has a positive association with audit fees. However, audit committee＇s financial related training is significant and has a negative association with audit fees. These results suggest that financial training of audit committee could have an impact on the lower audit fees. However, audit committee expertise is significant and has a positive association with audit fees. This suggests that financial-related training is needed in order to enhance the expertise of audit committee members.

Audit Committees： How They Affect Financial Reporting in Nigerian Companies

This study examines whether audit committees are associated with improved financial reporting quality for a sample of Nigerian listed companies prior to and after a corporate governance code mandated new regulations for audit committees in 2003. Using a sample of 70 companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, this study uses archival data in the form of companies＇ annual reports to measure the association between audit committees and improved financial reporting quality. Dechew and Dichev （2002）＇s model was used to measure earnings as a proxy for financial reporting quality. The results indicate that formation of audit committees was positively associated with improved financial reporting quality. It was also found that audit committees having an independent chair and audit committee expertise were positively associated with financial reporting quality. Other audit committee characteristics examined were found to be insignificantly related to financial reporting quality.

The Effects of Audit Committee Attributes on Fraudulent Financial Reporting

This study aims to examine the relationship between audit committee attributes （audit committee independence, financial expertise, meeting frequency, gender diversity, and ethnic composition） and the propensity for fraudulent financial reporting. The sample includes 116 fraudulent and non-frandulent firms listed on Bursa Malaysia from 2005 to 2010. The finding of this study indicates that audit committee independence is positively associated with fraudulent financial reporting. The higher the proportion of independent or outside directors on the committee, the higher the possibility of financial fraud, and vice versa. The results also show that the expertise of members of the audit committee is negatively associated with corporate fraud. This suggests that when audit committee members are financially literate, they are more competent to curb fraudulent financial reporting. However, the findings for frequency of audit committee meetings, gender, and ethnicity show that there is no relationship between these variables and corporate fraud. The result of this study is robust after controlling for other firm-specific effects.

Study on the Relationship Between the Audit Committee of Ipo Firms and the First-Day Stock Earnings

This paper mainly discusses the relationship between the audit committee of IPO firms and the stock returns on the first day of trading on the stock exchange.Using the sample of 21 firms that made an initial public offering in ASX between 2008 and 2010,Regression analysis was used to conclude that the existence of the audit committee of IPO firms and listed on the first day of the stock returns have no significant direct relationships.The result shows that the audit committee has no effect on the earnings of the first day of listing,and the establishment of the audit committee may not be considered before listing.

The analysis of determinants of going concern audit report

Going concern is one of essential things for user to make a financial decision. This research aims to explore factors that caused the issuance of going concern audit report by auditor. This research adds two new variables, audit size and audit committee, besides the other factors that cause auditor issue a going concern audit report. This research uses a regression logistic analysis to determine the relationship of each variable （liquidity, solvability, profitability, cash flow, audit firm size and audit committee） to going concern audit report. Different from previous researches, the results of this research show that liquidity, profitability, cash flow, and audit committee are not significant to influence the issuance of audit opinion. Audit size has a more significant relationship to audit opinion, while solvability is the most significant factor.

Good Corporate Governance （GCG） Mechanism and Audit Delay： An Empirical Study on Companies Listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange （IDX） in the Period of 2009-2011

Audit delay is a delay in reporting audit to the Indonesia Stock Exchange （IDX） after the allotted time of 90 days after closing the book. Delay to publish audit report will affect the value of infromation, causing a bad sign for the company. As good corporate governance （GCG） is one way to solve the different interests, practices, and culture, companies implement GCG in an attempt to get more value. This study aims to measure the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on audit delay in companies listed on the IDX in the period of 2009-2011. Variables of GCG mechanism consist of institutional ownership, number of audit committee members, and the percentage of independent commissioners. Purposive sampling method is used in sample selection procedure. Samples comprise 42 companies listed on the IDX. The simultaneous test results show that all the variables have a significant influence on audit delay. By the partial test, number of audit committee members has significantly affected audit delay, while institutional ownership and independent commissioners have no significant effect on audit delay. This study is limited to use only three variables to study their influence on audit delay in the reseach period of only three years.

Establishment of Effective Internal Audit Function： Recommendations for Best Practice

This paper^1, which is in the light of the last trends in internal auditing, aims to explain the challenges and major issues in establishment of an effective internal audit （IA） function to achieve value-added IA activities as a value-added service center. This paper also discusses the current internal auditing environment in Turkey considered for the needs and expectations of stakeholders and new legislations. In the next five years, five emerging activities for internal auditing may be taken into consideration, namely, the review of corporate governance process, auditing of enterprise risk management （ERM） processes, addressing linkage of strategy and company performance, the ethics audits, and the migration to International Financial Reporting Standards （IFRS）, they will be the major focus areas for internal auditing. The qualifications of IA staff, status within the corporation, setting up of the functional and administrative reporting lines, relationship with the audit committee of the board of directors, and the content of IA charter must be sufficient for assurance of the IA function＇s effectiveness and objectivity. The effective communication channels among management, audit committee, and IA become more important and must be operated in a consistent manner that accurately contributes to preventing potential future financial crisis and the effectiveness of risk management （RM）. Ten main imperatives of change for IA can be summarized as emphasizing RM and governance, addressing key stakeholder priorities, and optimizing IA resources. Based on professional practices, international standards of Institute of Internal Auditors （IIA）, best practices, and the relevant recommendations have been made by the authors for practitioners and stakeholders.

Factors That Influence Tax Avoidance in Indonesia Stock Exchange

The purpose of this study was to obtain empirical evidence about the influence of the proportion of independent commissioners, audit committee, audit quality, profitability, and firm size against the tax avoidance. This study used a sample of one hundred and fifty three samples. These results indicate that profitability has an influence on tax avoidance while the proportion of independent commissioners, audit committee, audit quality, and firm size have no influence on tax avoidance.

The Factors Affecting Financial Reporting Reliability： An Empirical Research of Public Listed Companies in Thailand

The objective of this research is to examine the antecedents of financial reporting reliability of Thai-listed companies. Accountant professional ethics, accounting information system （AIS） quality, audit committee effectiveness, and audit firm quality are assumed to be the antecedents of financial reporting reliability. The listed companies in the Stock Exchange of Thailand （SET） are samples of the research. A mail survey procedure via the questionnaire was used for data collection from chief accountant officer. The overall results indicate that accountant professional ethics, AIS quality, audit committee effectiveness, and audit firm quality have a positive significant effect on financial reporting reliability. The results reveal that firms should develop accountant professional ethics, AIS quality, audit committee effectiveness, and audit firm quality in order to build reliable financial reporting. Overall, the results of this research contribute to chief accounting officers, accounting practitioners, and firms to emphasize development and support the generation of financial reporting reliability for financial reporting users.

Governance Structure, Surplus Free Cash Flow （SFCF）, and Earnings Quality： Evidence From Malaysia＊

Prior researches focus mainly on the relationship between governance structure and earnings quality. Unlike the previous researches, this study attempts to empirically examine the role of surplus free cash flow （SFCF） as a moderator in the relationship with the new requirements of Malaysian code on corporate governance （MCCG）. By using the estimated generalized least square （EGLS） upon a sample of Malaysian firms, the results show that firms with an independent chairman experience persistent earnings numbers. The results also demonstrate that the current earnings of finns with small boards and independent audit committee members are more likely to persist in the future, when SFCF is high. However, in contradiction to the authors＇ expectation is the significant, but negative and interactive effect of current earnings and audit committee competence on earnings persistence. The findings, though disappointing, suggest investors to consider both the governance structure and free cash flow （FCF） agency problem when evaluating the sustainability of firms＇ earnings. They also call for more independent directors, effective meetings, and more competent audit committee members.

Effect of Corporate Governance Compositions on Financial Reporting Timeliness in Nigerian Deposit Money Banks

This study ascertained the effect of corporate governance compositions on timeliness of financial reporting in deposit money banks in Nigeria.Ex Post Facto research design was employed for this study.Purposive sampling was used to select eight(8)deposit money banks in Nigeria with international authorization.Data were extracted from annual reports and accounts of the sampled banks and analyzed with regression analysis.The results show that board size has a positive and significant effect on financial reporting timeliness deposit money banks in Nigeria,while audit committee independence has a positive but insignificant effect on financial reporting timeliness of deposit money banks in Nigeria.Therefore,on the basis of the findings and conclusions of the study,the study recommends among other things that the number of banks board of directors should play a vital role in how well it can oversee daily operations of the institution and monitor management.