Do investors care about auditor assignments?Evidence from last-minute changes to signing auditors

Against the background of China’s strengthening of finance and accounting supervision,this study examines the practice among listed companies of changing signing auditors at the last minute and explores whether Chinese investors can capture this information in a timely manner.We find that China’s capital market responds significantly negatively to these last-minute changes,implying that investors perceive a potential negative impact of this behavior.Crosssectional analyses suggest that the characteristics of the change event,recent corporate events,and accounting firm capability significantly affect the stock price response.Furthermore,in terms of the individual characteristics of signing auditors,external investors appear to comprehensively consider busyness level,industry experience,and the timing of the change to determine the causes and effects of the auditor change and make different market reactions accordingly.In addition,consistent with investor perceptions,we find that last-minute changes significantly impair the quality of financial statements,indicating that external investors’judgments based on information about changes in signing auditors are rational and effective.

Auditor Switching and Investors＇ Reliance on Earnings： Evidence From Bursa Malaysia

This study provides some insights of investors＇ view on auditor independence focusing on auditor switching. Hence, the purpose of this study is to examine the effect of appointing a new auditor on investors＇ reliability on reported earnings in financial accounts. Analyses are based on a matched-pair sample of 162 listed companies in the Bursa Malaysia for the year 2011. The results of the ordinary least squares （OLS） regression show that earnings response coefficients for auditor switching companies are significantly higher than for non-auditor switching companies. The results provide support for the contention that investors place greater reliability on the financial accounts audited by newly appointed auditors. This finding is consistent with the Malaysian audit market where long audit tenure is a common practice and auditor switching is considered rare. Findings provide support for the long discussed issue of the importance of auditor rotation in maintaining auditor independence.

Voluntary resignation of independent directors and auditor responses:Empirical evidence from Chinese A-share listed firms

We examine auditor responses to the voluntary resignation of independent directors.We show that auditors respond by increasing audit fees or rescinding engagement with their clients,but not by increasing their audit effort.Mechanism tests reveal that independent directors’voluntary resignation leads to increased regulatory sanctions and negative media coverage,these relationships are more pronounced after the New Securities Law.Auditor response strategies follow an order of priority:at an acceptable level of perceived risk,auditors increase audit fees;when perceived risk exceeds this level,auditors will discontinue the client relationship.Auditors associate greater risk with firms that have(vs.have not)experienced consecutive voluntary resignations by independent directors.Mandatory resignation has no such effect.