Assurance Practices in Banks and Public Companies

Assurance Practices in Banks and Public Companies examines a persistent and consequential problem in contemporary financial governance: the failure of auditors, regulators, and oversight bodies to detect material inaccuracies, losses, and fraud before major banks and publicly listed companies become insolvent. Focusing on cases in which entities received unqualified audit opinions shortly before collapse, the book interrogates wider concerns about audit quality, regulatory scrutiny, and the effectiveness of audit committees and other assurance mechanisms. In doing so, it highlights the systemic implications of weak assurance practices for transparency, market confidence, and the reliability of financial reporting.

Drawing on a qualitative e-Delphi study with 10 banking and finance experts, the book identifies a consensus-based framework of effective assurance practices for reducing reporting inaccuracies, fraud, scandals, and regulatory findings in banks and public companies. Key recommendations include articulating risk appetite, maintaining robust capital and liquidity reviews, strengthening staff training, fostering a risk-aware organisational culture, conducting performance evaluation, proactively addressing credit risk, and promoting leadership by example.

Offering an original contribution to the fields of banking, auditing, and corporate governance, this timely work will be of interest to academics, researchers, students, regulators, accountants, and banking practitioners seeking practical and research-informed approaches to assurance and audit risk.