Auditor and audit committee independence in India

Abstract

This article reviews the regulations and governance reforms carried out in India with respect to auditor and audit committee independence. In doing so it critically compares them with the regulations existing in the US. This is followed by a discussion of the existing research on the effectiveness of audit committees and audit independence in corporate governance. Recent trends in audit committee and auditor characteristics for a sample of large listed companies in the Indian corporate sector are then discussed. The article concludes by suggesting some governance reforms that may be considered to further strengthen auditor independence and the functioning of audit committees in India.