Journal Screenshot

International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2225-8329

Improving Corporate Governance. The Role of Audit Committee Disclosures by Indian Corporations

Madan Lal Bhasin

Open access

Now-a-days, an AC is being looked upon as a distinct culture for CG and has received a wide-publicity across the globe. Government authorities, regulators and international bodies all have indicated that they view an AC as a potentially powerful tool that can enhance the reliability and transparency of financial information. Being mandatory under SEBI’s Clause 49 of the Listing Agreement, an AC can be of great help to the board in implementing, monitoring and continuing ‘good’ CG practices to the benefit of the corporation and all its stakeholders. This study performs a ‘content’ analysis on the AC reports of the top 500 listed companies in India during 2005 to 2008 to determine the information content of these reports and the extent to which these reports conform to the Clause 49 requirements of the SEBI. Also, discussed are the various trends about an AC characteristics viz., size, composition, activity, as well as, the extent of non-audit services provided by auditors in the top 500 listed Indian companies. No doubt, it is essential for the Indian corporations to accept and continue with the CG reforms that are ‘demarcated’ by the challenges of the ‘new’ millennium.

Abbott, L. J., Parker, S., Peters, G. F., and Rama, D. V. (2007) ‘Corporate governance, audit quality, and the SOX Act: evidence from internal audit outsourcing’, The Accounting Review, Vol. 82, No. 4, pp. 803-35.
Afsharipour, A. (2009) ‘Corporate governance convergence: lessons from the Indian experience’, Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business, Vol. 29, pp. 335-402.
Agarwal, S. (2006) ‘Corporate governance through audit committees’, The Chartered Accountant, November, pp. 733-742.
Agoglia, C. P., Doupnik, T. S., and Tsakumis, G. T. (2011) ‘Principle-based versus rules-based accounting standards: the influence of standard precision and audit committee strength on financial reporting decisions’, The Accounting Review, Volume 86, No. 3, pp. 747-767.
Aguilera, R., and Cuervo-Cazurra, A. (2009) ‘Codes of good governance’, Corporate Governance: an International Review, No. 17, pp. 376-387.
Allen, J. (2008) ‘Asian Corporate Governance Association: corporate governance seminar’, organized by Chubb Insurance and Solidarity, Bahrain, April 16, 2008, page 10.
Al-Mudhaki, J., and Joshi, P. L. (2004) ‘The role and functions of audit committees in the Indian corporate governance: empirical findings’, International Journal of Auditing, Vol. 8, pp. 33-47.
Balasubramanian, B. N., Black, B. S., and Khanna, V. S. (2008) ‘Firm-level corporate governance in emerging markets: a case study of India’, Northwestern Law & Eco Research, July, Paper No. 09-14. pp. 1-50.
Beasley, M. (1996) ‘An empirical analysis of the relations between the board of director composition and financial statement fraud’, Accounting Review, Vol. 71, pp. 443-465.
Beasley, M., Carcello, J. V., Hermanson, D. R., and Neal, T. L. (2009) ‘The audit committee oversight process’, Contemporary Accounting Research, Spring, Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 65-122.
Beattie, V., Brandt, R., and Fearnley, S. (1999) ‘Perceptions of auditor independence: U.K. evidence’, Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation No. 8, pp. 67-107.
Beattie, V. (2007) ‘Lifting the lid on the use of content analysis to investigate intellectual capital disclosures’, Accounting Forum, Vol. 31 (2). pp. 129-163.
Bindal, C. M. (2011) ‘Audit committee—highly integral to corporate governance’, Chartered Accountant in Practice, Manupatra publications, pp. 1-9.
Carcello, J. V., Hermanson, D. R., and Ye, Z. S. (2011) ‘Corporate governance research in accounting and auditing: insights, practice implications, and future research directions’, Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, Vol. 30, No. 3, August, pp. 1-31.
Caskey, J., Nagar, V., and Petacchi, P. (2010) ‘Reporting bias with an audit committee’, The Accounting Review, Volume 85, No. 2, pp. 447-481.
Confederation of Indian Industry. (1997) ‘Desirable corporate governance: A code’, available at online at www.ciionline.org. Accessed on July 25, 2010, pp. 1-12.
Cohen, J., Gaynor, L. M., Krishnamoorthy, G., and Wright, A. (2007) ‘Auditor communications with the AC and the board of directors: policy recommendations and opportunities for research’, Accounting Horizons, June, Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 165-187.
Cohen, J., Krishnamoorthy, G., and Wright, A. (2008) ‘Form versus substance: The implications for auditing practices and research of alternative perspectives on corporate governance’, Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, November, Vol. 27, No. 2, pp. 181-98.
Cohen, J., Krishnamoorthy, G., and Wright, A. (2010) ‘Corporate governance in the post-sarbanes-oxley era: auditors’ experiences’, Contemporary Accounting Research, Vol. 27, No. 3, Fall, pp. 751-786.
Chatterjee, D. (2011) ‘Audit committee observation/recommendations versus practices as a compliance of corporate governance in India’, DLSU Business & Economics Review, Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 67-78.
Dechow, P., Sloan, R., and Sweeney, A. (1996) ‘Causes and consequences of earnings manipulation: an analysis of firms subject to enforcement actions by the SEC’, Contemporary Accounting Research, No. 13, pp. 1-36.
Department of Public Enterprises. (2007) ‘Guidelines on corporate governance for central public sector enterprises’, Government of India, New Delhi. Available at
dpe.nic.in/newsite/gcgcpse.pdf
DeFond, M. L., Hann, R. N., and Hu, X. (2005) ‘Does the market value financial expertise on audit committees of Boards of Directors?’, Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 43, No. 2, May, pp. 153-95.
Dey, A. (2008) ‘Corporate governance and agency conflicts’, Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 46, No. 5 December, pp. 1143-1181.
Dignam, A. (2007) ‘Capturing corporate governance: the end of the UK self-regulating system’, International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, No. 4, pp. 24-41.
Dockweiler, R. C., Nikolai, L. A., and Holstein, J. E. (1986) ‘The effect of audit committees and changes in the code of ethics on public accounting’, Proceedings 1986 Midwest Annual Meeting, American Accounting Association, 1986, pp. 45-60.
Emmerich, A. O., Racz, G. N., and Unger, J. (2005) ‘Composition of the audit committee: ensuring members meet the new independence and financial literacy rules’, International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Vol. 2, February 1, pp. 67-80.
Fichtner, J. R. (2010) ‘The recent international growth of mandatory audit committee requirements’, International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, No. 7(3), pp. 227-243.
FICCI Grand Thornton Report. (2009) ‘Corporate governance review 2009: India 101-500 technical report’, available online at http://www.wcgt.in/html/publications/ficci_gt_cgr.php.
Ganguly. (2001) ‘Provisions of audit committees in companies act listing agreement: Need re-look’, India infoline www.indiainfoline.com/leggal/feat/prov.html.
Giridharan, P. T. (2004) ‘The Audit committee: a global perspective’, The Chartered Accountant, November, pp. 621-627.
Goodwin-Stewart, J., and Kent, P. (2006) ‘Relation between external audit fees, audit committee characteristics and internal audit’, Accounting & Finance, No. 46, pp. 387-404.
Hinzpeter, R., Zimerman, R., and Piddo, K. (2009) ‘Getting the deal through corporate governance’, London: Law Business Research, pp. 43-47.
Johnstone, K., Li, Chan and Rupley, K. H. (2011) ‘Changes in corporate governance associated with the revelation of internal control material weaknesses and their subsequent remediation’, Contemporary Accounting Research. Vol. 28, No.1, pp. 331-383.
Kaushik, M. (2009) ‘How good are company boards?’, Business Today, April 19.
Klein, A. (2002) ‘Audit committee, board of director characteristics and earnings management’, Journal of Accounting and Economics 33, pp. 375-400.
Knapp, M. (1987) ‘An empirical study of audit committee support for auditors involved in technical disputes with client management’, Accounting Review, No. 62, pp. 578-588.
Lam, W. P. (2000) ‘The development and significance of corporate audit committees’, CA Magazine, April, pp. 3-40.
Lin, J. W., Kang, G., and Roline, A. (2009) ‘The effects of the Blue Ribbon committee and the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 on the characteristics of the audit committees and the board of directors’, Advances in Accounting, Finance and Economics, Vol. 2, No. 1, Summer.
McMullen, D. A. (1996) ‘Audit committee performance: an investigation of the consequences associated with audit committee’, Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, No. 15, pp. 87-103.
Pearson, M. A. (1980) ‘A profile of the “big eight” independence position’, Baylor Business Studies, No. 11, pp. 7-27.
Prentice, R. A., and Space, D. B. (2007) ‘Sarbanes-Oxley as quack corporate governance: how wise is the received wisdom?’, Georgetown Law Journal, Vol. 95, No.6, pp. 1843-1909.
Pucheta-Martinez, M. C., and de Fuentes, C. (2007) ‘The impact of audit commit characteristics on the enhancement of the quality of financial reporting: an empirical study in the Spanish context’, Corporate Governance: An International Review, No. 15, pp. 1394-1412.
Puri, R., Trehan, R., and Kakkar, H. (2010) ‘Corporate governance through audit committee: a study of the Indian corporate sector’, The IUP Journal of corporate governance, Volume 9, Nos. 1&2, pp. 47-56.
Raghunandan, K., and Rama, D. (2007) ‘Determinants of audit committee diligence’, Accounting Horizons, Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 265-280.
Romano, R. (2005) ‘The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the making of quack corporate governance’, Yale Law Journal, No. 114, pp. 1521-1611.
Sandra, C. V-M. (2005) ‘Corporate governance reforms: redefined expectations of audit committee responsibilities and effectiveness’, Journal of Business Ethics. No. 62, pp. 115-127.
Sarbanes, P., and Oxley, M. (2002) ‘Text of the Sarbanes Oxley Act’, Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
Sarkar, J., and Sarkar, S. (2010) ‘Auditor and audit committee independence in India’, Working Paper Series under Financial sector regulatory reforms project at IGIDR.
Securities and Exchange Board of India. (2004) ‘Corporate governance in listed corporations: Clause 49 of the listing agreement’, available at http://www.sebi-gov.in/circulars/2004/cfdcir0104.pdf, accessed on January 30, 2011.
UNCTAD. (2006) ‘Guidance on good practices in corporate governance disclosure’ New York.
Ward, R. D. (2009) ‘Audit committee leaders face increasing workload’, Financial Executive, March, pp. 28-31.
Williams, S. M., and Tower, G. (2004) ‘Audit committee features and earnings management: Further evidence’, Conference Proceedings 25th McMaster World Congress, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Wild, J. J. (1996) ‘The audit committee and earnings quality’, Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance, No. 11, pp. 247-276.
Zabihollah, R., Kingsley, O., and George, M. (2003) ‘Improving corporate governance: the role of audit committee disclosures’, Managerial Auditing Journal, Vol. 18, No. 6-7, pp. 530-537.

In-Text Citation: (Bhasin, 2012)
To Cite this Article: Bhasin, M. L. (2012). Improving Corporate Governance. The Role of Audit Committee Disclosures by Indian Corporations. International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting Finance and Management Sciences, 2(1), 152–175.