Audit Committee: compliance with SOX, Bacen, Susep and IBGC rules

• Main Authors: Marina Schreiber de Abreu Siigor Sorrentino, Bruna Teixeira, Ernesto Fernando Rodrigues Vicente
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Conselho Federal de Contabilidade (CFC) 2016-08-01
• Series: Revista de Educação e Pesquisa em Contabilidade
• Subjects: Governança corporativa; Comitê de auditoria; Regras
• Online Access: http://repec.org.br/index.php/repec/article/view/1337

The objective in this study was to identify the level of compliance of companies’ audit committees on the distinguished levels of BM&FBOVESPA with the SOX, Bacen, Susep and IBGC rules. The compliance was analyzed by means of a checklist, built based on the main standards and recommendations the Brazilian companies are subject to. The analysis departed from the following characteristics: composition, qualification, mandate, number of meetings, attributions and obligations. A predominantly quantitative and descriptive document research was undertaken. Fifty-eight companies were considered and 1,508 verifications, showing an average compliance level of 50% (13 out of 26 questions), ranging between 88% (23 questions) and 4% (1 question). The results appointed that financial institutions and social security and insurance institutions are the group that best complies with the audit committee rules, while the companies submitted to SOX and other companies show the lowest compliance rates in the sample. In addition, no relation was found between the distinguished corporate governance levels and the committees’ level of compliance, that is, being classified in the new market does not guarantee good compliance with the audit committee standards.