Corporate failures and accounting scandals have shaken the foundations of investors’ confidence in the transparency, integrity and accountability of corporations and financial markets. There have also been public disquiet about the role of professional auditors and audit firms, who had been associated with these corporate scandals. Written from a global perspective, the book assists in understanding the gravity of independent attitude of statutory auditors in protecting stakeholders’ interest and examines the effectiveness of the existing standards and other legal and regulatory requirements in enforcing statutory auditors’ independent engagement. It then suggests modifications in those regulations. The study has been made through seven chapters in order to address empirically statutory auditors’ independence in protecting stakeholders’ interest. Primary audiences of the book are researchers in finance and control, students, and professionals in the field of accounting and auditing.

This book provides the first detailed analysis of the decision to prosecute made by the statutory Australian Offices of Director of Prosecution. It examines the system of prosecution as part of the executive branch of government, and the role and challenges of the individual prosecutors who make decisions within the system. It explores the tension between prosecutorial independence and prosecutorial accountability, and the paradox that political involvement in prosecutions is necessary for accountability and to uphold the public interest, but can compromise independence. The book makes a unique contribution to both Australian criminal law scholarship and to the international literature on criminal prosecution, by drawing on the sub-disciplines of criminal law and administrative law. It includes case studies on prosecuting child sexual abuse, rape, and government espionage, and comparisons with common law and civil law countries including the USA, the UK, Italy and South Africa.

This book analyzes the effects of the latest technological advances in blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) on business operations and strategies. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, the contributions examine new developments that change the rules of traditional management. The chapters focus mainly on blockchain technologies and digital business in the "Industry 4.0" context, covering such topics as accounting, digitalization and use of AI in business operations and cybercrime. Intended for academics, blockchain experts, students and practitioners, the book helps business strategists design a path for future opportunities.

In Auditor Independence, Ismail Adelopo argues that the importance of auditors' independence cannot be over-emphasised. Not only do auditors provide certification of the truth and fairness of the information prepared by managers, they also have a duty to express opinions on the degree of compliance with laws and regulations guiding a firm's operations. Theirs is a socially important responsibility. In all that has been proposed to mitigate the governance crisis and restore confidence in the market system, relatively little attention has been paid to auditor independence. Examining the historical role of auditing in corporate governance and the regulatory context, this book sets the function within a theoretical framework and then provides empirical analysis of the problem issues such as the relationship between audit committees and external auditors and the probity of providing non-auditing services to audit clients. The focus on matters that are damaging to market confidence and threatening to the reputation of the auditing profession, means the conclusions and recommendations in this book are important for key stakeholders, including policy makers, regulators, those running companies, and their investors and customers. This is also a book for those responsible for training in the auditing profession and for others with a research or academic interest in the matters addressed.

This new work takes a comprehensive look at the quality control framework for statutory financial audit. Saha and Roy focus on identifying the different factors governing quality of audit and establish a comprehensive framework for quality control.

The overall purpose of this licentiate dissertation is to advance our understanding of the auditor by creating a concept of the auditor through focusing on auditors' own perceptions and understandings of their work in relation to boundary-setting forces. The audit profession, the audit firm, the client, society, regulations, and the market are all boundary-setting forces that influence the work of auditors and how auditors perceive and understand their work. The concept of the auditor consists of who the auditor is and what the auditor does; this concept is shaped interactively by the boundary-setting forces, that exist in the auditors’ environment and by the auditors themselves, through the view auditors have of themselves and their environment. The boundary-setting forces have in recent decades undergone significant and rapid changes; for example, increased commercialization as well as significant regulatory changes, which are expected to have influenced the concept of the auditor. The concept of the auditor therefor needs to be explored to understand who today’s auditor is and what today's auditor does. This licentiate dissertation consists of three appended papers and a comprehensive summary. The appended papers constitute the basis for discussing who the auditor is and what the auditor does, thereby contributing to the concept of the auditor. This dissertation uses boundaries in exploring the concept of the auditor, since it is when the auditor encounters the boundaries of being an auditor that the auditor’s conception of an auditor becomes clear. This dissertation has a mixed-methods design based on survey and interview data. The results of this dissertation show that there are several characteristics that define who the auditor is. The auditor: is highly driven by professional valuesis less driven by business valuesis genuinely interested in auditor workis resistant to stress, heavy workload, and work–life balance issuesis admiring the audit profession and perceiving it as highly professionalis perceiving professional values in adding value to the client, i.e., in the business activitiesis enjoying adding value to the clientis more motivated by contributing to the client than to societyhas high social skills and broad knowledge The results of this dissertation also show that the work of the auditor in the "grey area" between auditing and consulting comprises several activities. The auditor: adds value to the client by being available and engaged, by providing mental support and family mediation, by informing and discussing, by giving tips, advice, and suggestions, by explaining, answering questions, raising questions, and questioning, and by customizing, operating, developing, and contributing expertise to the clientconducts a wide range of services, also related to the private and personal matters of the clienthas counselling, pedagogical, coaching and/or developmental roles Det övergripande syftet med denna licentiatavhandling är att främja vår förståelse för revisorn genom att skapa ett begrepp för revisorn baserat på revisorers egna uppfattningar och förståelser av deras arbete i förhållande till gränssättande krafter. Revisorsprofessionen, revisionsbyrån, klienten, samhället, regleringar och marknaden är alla gränssättande krafter som påverkar revisorers arbete och hur revisorer uppfattar och förstår sitt arbete. Revisorsbegreppet består av vem revisorn är och vad revisorn gör, och formas interaktivt av de gränssättande krafter som finns i revisorernas omgivning och av revisorer själva genom deras syn på sig själva och sin omgivning. De gränssättande krafterna har under de senaste decennierna genomgått betydande och snabba förändringar, med till exempel ökad kommersialisering samt betydande regleringsändringar, vilket förväntas ha påverkat revisorsbegreppet. Således måste begreppet för revisorn utforskas för att förstå vem dagens revisor är och vad dagens revisor gör. Denna licentiatavhandling består av tre artiklar och en kappa. De bifogade artiklarna utgör grunden för diskussionen om vem revisorn är och vad revisorn gör, och bidrar därmed till begreppet för revisorn. Denna avhandling använder gränser för att utforska revisorsbegreppet, eftersom det är när revisorn möter gränsen för att vara revisor, som revisorns uppfattning om en revisor blir tydlig. En design med blandad metod används och det empiriska materialet består av enkät- och intervjudata. Resultaten av denna avhandling visar att det finns flera faktorer som definierar vem revisorn är. Revisorn: är starkt driven av professionella värdenär mindre driven av affärsvärdenär genuint intresserad av arbetet som revisorär motståndskraftig mot stress, arbetsbelastning och obalans mellan arbete och privatlivbeundrar professionen och uppfattar revisionsyrket som mycket professionelltser professionella värden i att skapa mervärde till klientertycker om att skapa mervärde till klientenär mer motiverad av att bidra till klienten än samhällethar höga sociala färdigheter och bred kunskap Resultaten av denna avhandling visar också att revisorns arbete i den gråa zonen mellan revision och konsultation omfattar flera aktiviteter. Revisorn: tillför mervärde för klienten genom att vara tillgänglig, engagerad, ett mentalt stöd och en familjemedlare och genom att informera, diskutera, ge tips, råd och förslag, förklara, svara på frågor, ställa frågor och ifrågasätta, klientanpassa, agera, utveckla, och bidra med expertis till kunden.bedriver ett brett utbud av tjänster, även relaterade till klientens privata och personliga frågor.kan ha en terapeutisk, pedagogisk, coachande och/eller utvecklande roll

The controversial issues of director liability and auditor independence are addressed with pragmatic solutions in this helpful guide to running a business. Vital strategies aimed at aligning the interests of shareholders, directors, and managers in the best interest of the company are included with tips for optimizing business earnings and cash flow to increase shareholder value. Nine universal governance principles drawn together from international codes of conduct such as the King II Code, the GRI sustainable reporting recommendations, and the Myburgh report demonstrate how to optimize shareholder value without compromising positive corporate and governance practice.