Audit Committee Chair Attributes and Audit Report Lag in an Emerging Market

Abstract

This study is motivated by the new listing requirement of Bursa Malaysia (formerly known as Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, KLSE) concerning the shorter timeframe of annual report release. Similarly, the call for future research on the efficacy of audit committee chair (ACC) attributes with audit report lag (ARL) has further driven this study. Therefore, this paper aimed to analyse the relationship between the ACC expertise and ACC tenure with the ARL of companies in the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia in 2015 using a sample of 139 companies. Furthermore, other audit committee (AC) attributes such as AC overlap and AC independence were also examined. Results of the study revealed an average of 95 days is required by the companies to conclude their respective audit reports. ACC with accounting expertise enhanced the ARL, whereas AC overlap and AC independence did not reduce the ARL. Concurrently, other control variables like AC size, frequency of AC meetings, firm size, leverage, and profitability depicted significant relationship with the ARL. Hence, this research is relevant to the current ARL literature via the provision of evidence and justification regarding the important role of ACC with accounting expertise towards the AC effectiveness, thus enhancing the timelines of financial reporting.