A Proposed Model of Audit Committee to Reinforce Corporate Governance System in Jordan (original) (raw)

The Performance of Audit Committees in Jordanian Public Listed Companies

Corporate Ownership and Control, 2015

This study aimed to explore the degree to which audit committees in Jordanian public listed companies possess the necessary characteristics needed to enable them to perform their duties, and the level of their actual performance of these duties. To do so, the study used a questionnaire survey of the views of external auditors with experience in auditing Jordanian public listed companies. The main findings of the study show that audit committees do possess the necessary characteristics needed, but only to a limited extent. In addition, their performance of their duties was also to a limited extent. The study concluded that these findings can be attributed to the family business model dominant in most Jordanian companies, where the demand for effective audit committees is considered low due to limited agency costs involved.

Corporate Governance and The Modification of Audit Opinion: A Study in The Jordanian Market

International Journal of Applied Research in Management and Economics, 1970

The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between some Corporate Governance indicators and the probability of modifying the independent auditor opinion in the Jordanian market. The sample consists of 104 non-financial firms listed on Amman stock Exchange for the year 2015. The logistic regression via SPSS is used to analyze the data. The results show that firm’s profitability (measured by ROA) and the number of institutional investors on the board of directors are significant negative predictors of the probability of receiving modified audit opinion by the firm. That is the higher the firm’s ROA and the larger number institutional investor representatives on the board of directors the less likely the firm will receive a modified audit opinion. On the other hand, the results also show that the board of directors’ size is significant positive predictor of receiving a modified audit opinion by the firm. That is the larger the size of the board of directors the more lik...

Corporate Governance and the Quality of Audit Process: An Exploratory Analysis Considering Internal Audit, Audit Committee and Board of Directors

European Journal of Business and Management Research, 2022

This research aims to offer a better understanding concerning the relationships between Internal Corporate Governance Mechanisms and quality of the external audit process and what are the governance mechanisms that can influence some aspects of the quality of the external audit process. Semi-structured interviews were employed in order to get detail views of the external auditors to explain and clarify how the Internal Corporate Governance Mechanisms can influence the quality of the external audit process as well as offer a better understanding of the relationships between the governance mechanisms and the quality of the external audit process. Adopting this research design (exploratory) was mainly as a response to the recent calls as there is a lack of this kind of study that investigate the relationship between the Internal Corporate Governance Mechanisms can influence the quality of the external audit process. This research focuses on the perception/insight of the Jordanian exter...

The Impact of Audit Committee Performance and Composition on Financial Reporting Quality in Jordan

International Journal of Financial Research, 2021

The corporate governance literature indicates efforts to investigate the role of the audit committee (AC) in improving the financial reporting quality (FRQ) after the emergence of financial scandals in many countries in the world, inclusive Jordan. To date, empirical findings are inconclusive enough to address all audit committee characteristics regarding its competency and responsibilities by employing a questionnaire to collect data about this relationship. Thus, this study measures the correlation between AC (performance and composition) and FRQ of manufacturing corporations registered on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE). To test this impact empirically, the target population was financial managers, audit committee members, and internal audit managers who are working in manufacturing corporations listed on the (ASE). According to the coefficient (β), the independent variables (Audit Committee Performance and Audit Committee Composition influence the dependent variable FRQ. This res...

Features of an effective audit committee, and its role in strengthening the financial reporting: Evidence from Amman Stock Exchange

Purpose: This study aims to understand the features of an effective audit committee and its role in strengthening financial reporting. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire based survey was circulated to public listed companies on the Amman Stock Exchange (Banking, insurance, and financial institutions). The study was aimed at internal audit managers and finance managers. Out of 156 questionnaires, we received 110 back which represents a 71% response rate. Findings: The study results show that the research respondents have a good level of education and experience. In addition, there is a relationship between internal controls, international standards on auditing, institute of internal audit; Jordan securities commission requirements, external audit, understanding of audit committee functions, and financial reporting. Further more, the internal control, international standard on auditing and institute of internal audit, Jordan securities commission requirements, External audit, understanding of audit committee functions can explain a significant amount of the variability in financial reporting. Finally, the research results also show that age and gender make a difference for our respondents when they evaluate financial reporting.

Corporate Governance and Auditor Independence in Saudi Arabia: Literature Review and Proposed Conceptual Framework

International Business Research, 2016

This study aimed to propose a theoretical framework that explains the relationship between internal corporate governance mechanisms namely audit committee and board of directors, and auditor independence. It is a descriptive study that explored the Saudi corporate governance reforms and the Saudi auditing market. In recent years, Saudi Arabia has been pursuing corporate governance reforms, as evidenced by the setting up of the Capital Market Authority (CMA) in 2003 and the publication of the Saudi Corporate Governance Code (SCGC) in 2006. In the Saudi Organization for Certified Public Accountants (SOCPA), the accounting standards committee holds the responsibility of developing and reviewing accounting and auditing standards in the country. According to the agency theory, corporate governance mechanisms and external audit have a key role in improving the process of financial reporting. Basing the primary argument on the above premise, this study attempted to achieve the following ob...

The Role of Effective Audit Committee in Strengthening the Financial Reporting: Evidence from Jordanian Listed Companies

Corporate Ownership and Control, 2012

This study aims to understand the features of an effective audit committee and its role in strengthening financial reporting. A questionnaire based survey was circulated to public listed companies on the Amman Stock Exchange (Banking, insurance, and financial institutions). The study was aimed at internal audit managers and finance managers. Out of 156 questionnaires, we received 110 back which represents a 71% response rate. The study results show that the research respondents have a good level of education and experience. In addition, there is a relationship between internal controls, international standards on auditing, institute of internal audit; Jordan securities commission requirements, external audit, understanding of audit committee functions, and financial reporting. Further more, the internal control, international standard on auditing and institute of internal audit, Jordan securities commission requirements, External audit, understanding of audit committee functions can explain a significant amount of the variability in financial reporting. Finally, the research results also show that age and gender make a difference for our respondents when they evaluate financial reporting. The study like other cross sectional studies is not free of limitations. Managerial implications and new avenues of future research are supplied. Future research also can borrow the research model and apply a longitudinal study to solve the cross sectional study problems.

International Standard on Auditing No. 260 and Audit Quality: Evidence from Jordan

International Business Research, 2019

This study aims to explore the extent of external auditors awareness of the requirements of the International Standard on Auditing No. 260 (Communications with those charged with governance) on audit quality and to shed light on the effectiveness of the communication process based on auditors actual experience. A mixed method approach was employed to achieve the study objectives. The analysis of 116 questionnaires concluded that the requirements of the ISA 260 enhance audit quality, but the two-way communication between Jordanian auditors and the audit committee is ineffective from external auditor"s perception. The study also found that audit committees do not support external auditor when disagreements arise between auditors and their client management on accounting treatments. The qualitative interviews confirmed the quantitative results and revealed several explanations among which: 1) lack of qualified directors, 2) lack of a clear policy in selecting board members, 3) meetings with auditors are routinely held, and 4) insufficient oversight by the securities commission. The interviews also revealed that the recent version of Jordanian corporate governance has two potential factors have been viewed to improve the effectiveness of the communication process that are, the appointment of a "governance liaison officer" who, among other responsibilities, supervise and document audit committee meetings with the auditor, and the use of cumulative voting technique in selecting board members. The findings of the study could be beneficial for regulators by ensuring the best implementation of cumulative voting to increase the representation of qualified members so that the communication process will be greatly enhanced.

Audit Committee Attributes, Corporate Governance and Voluntary Disclosure: Evidence from Jordan

International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, 2020

This study examines the impact of audit committee attributes, corporate governance on voluntary disclosure of the non-financial firms listed on Amman stock exchange, the sample size consists of 72 listed firms covered the time period 2013-2016. Voluntary disclosure was measured using the relative disclosure index ratio. Multiple regression techniques were employed to test the study hypotheses, the results show that audit committee independence and audit committee meetings frequency have a significant positive impact on the level of voluntary disclosure, the results also revealed that independent board members and foreign ownership have a significant positive impact on the level of voluntary disclosure, however, family control exerts a negative significant impact on the level of voluntary disclosure. The findings of this study may have policy implications for the Jordanian corporate governance regulators as well as to regulators in the developing countries.

Audit firm, corporate governance, and audit quality: Evidence from Bahrain

Advances in Accounting, 2009

The aim of this research is to document the perceptions of credit and financial analysts with regard to the relationship between the effectiveness of audit committee, size of the auditing firm and audit quality in the context of Bahrain, which is characterized by a developed financial sector, low-liquidity stock market, low turnover in board of directors of listed firms, an inactive merger and acquisitions market and almost non-extent litigation. A survey of 300 credit and financial analysts shows that analysts considered auditors' opinion useful. Both credit and financial analysts see the credibility of financial statements to be a function of the size of the auditing firm. Both groups assume that the characteristics of Big-Four firms allow them to produce better-quality reports than non-Big firms. Non-audit services were found to affect auditor's independence and hence impair audit quality. Both the groups of analysts believe that effective audit committee enhances the quality of audit reports. Financial analysts perceive financial statements to be more credible than do credit analysts.