The Role of Audit Committees To Support The Implementation of Corporate Governance and Enhance The Competitiveness of Companies in The Iraqi Business Environment

Abstract

Corporate governance is not a goal in itself, but seeks to improve the performance of companies and ensure their
access to capital at a reasonable cost, and that there is a relationship between governance and the degree of economic
performance of the company, companies that enjoy good governance have good managers and good transparency and will
inspire confidence to investors.
The audit committee represents one of the axes on which good governance is based, as the lack of an effective audit
committee may achieve reform, but it will be deficient, which imposes the need to make efforts to activate the role of the audit
committee in local joint stock companies, which contributes to strengthening governance practices and implementation
mechanisms. It requires the efforts of many parties, especially the Iraq Stock Exchange and the Registrar of Companies, to
follow up on the companies’ compliance with the provisions of the legislation issued related to the Audit Committee and to
reconsider them for the purpose of activating this on the one hand. The proposal for the structure and practices of the audit
committee in Iraqi joint stock companies, which is an important step to clarify the essence of the audit committee and enhance
its role in implementing corporate governance.