A recent event hosted by Mazars brought together audit committee chairs and investors to explore their experience of coping with the impact of Covid-19.

Twenty-five years after the AIM was launched, building a constructive relationship with your auditors remains a vital component for success.

Academics warn that committees require corporate governance expertise, greater independence and sufficient time if they are to ensure high-quality audit.

A number of recent reviews have concluded that greater scrutiny of the audit process is necessary, after a series of high-profile corporate failures. But what shape will any legislation take? And how will changes to the role of the audit committee affect the board as a whole?

The Competition and Markets Authority says regulators should punish audit committees, impose joint audits and force an “operational separation” of auditors from other parts of their firms
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Legal and regulatory news from around globe, including the new UK stewardship code, clarification of Singapore M&A rules, new EU regulations for the gig economy and Facebook’s appeal against German data ruling.

Recent corporate collapses such as BHS and Carillion have put “going concern” statements in the spotlight. New guidance will make non-executive directors—especially those on the audit committee—part of the assessment.

Boards of banks face an increasingly broad array of responsibilities when managing foreign subsidiaries, ensuring the parent company has control and oversight without sacrificing independence or creating a culture of complacency.

Audit committee chairs must push for more audit materiality information; auditors must be more transparent; and investors must understand the process better, says the Financial Reporting Council.

The US markets regulator approves new standards, which will see auditors reveal their tenure with an organisation and more detail in their audit report.