Crisis at the Audit Committee: Challenges of a Post-Pandemic World

Company boards and their audit committees must constantly be aware of developments impacting them. The last five decades has witnessed a continuing growth and maturity in recognition of the importance of the board’s audit committee to the conduct of corporate governance. During the past two years alone, corporate audit committees have been faced with significant stressors: the global Covid-pandemic; resultant disruption to supply chains; war in Europe and decline in economic growth combined with rampant inflation; increased global political instability; continued cyber-attacks, and increased regulatory disclosure demands resulting from threatening climate change and disruptive technological advances. In this paper we focus on the audit committee and examine the hostile contemporary environment in which it must operate.Our article proceeds in nine parts. First, we explore the law of the audit committee. Second is a discussion of the history of the audit committee --- how it operates; role of the financial expert; Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA); and Sarbanes-Oxley Act. A brief but important reflection on the impact of the regulatory responses and mandates resulting from rapid technological advances is covered as our third topic. Fourth, we focus on the importance of auditing cyber risk. Fifth is coverage and reflection upon the audit demands occasioned by the current global pandemic --- conducting audits remotely; logistical issues; accounting estimates; and going concern issues. Sixth, we discuss audit-related legal issues arising from the impact of climate change. Seventh, the importance of and challenges resulting from the audit committee recruitment process is covered. Eighth, we examine contemporary challenges and resources not mentioned previously. And last, we conclude. We believe this article makes a valuable contribution to the literature on this important topic by examining these challenges brought about by unique historical developments.