Enhancing audit – audit committee dialogue

ICAEW’s Financial Services Faculty has issued guidance to enhance the dialogue between bank auditors and their audit committees. It aims to provide examples of good practice too.

The report examines the relationship between auditors, audit committees and executive management. It emphasises the need for both rigorous challenge and effective co-operation, with the balance between challenge and cooperation varying according to circumstances.

The report also calls for more transparency about the extent to which auditors and audit committees have challenged the each other and the executive management during annual reporting cycle. Providing more information about what happens behind the closed doors of the audit process can enhance confidence in reported financial information. We suggest ways that this information might be provided.

This report follows up our report Audit of banks: lessons from the crisis which identified the importance of the relationship between auditors and audit committees.

Downloads

• Report - Enhancing the dialogue between bank auditors and audit committees – issued in March 2012 (PDF) 
• Accompanying press statement 
• Report Audit of banks: lessons from the crisis issued in June 2010 (PDF)