Internal Control Reporting by Chinese Listed Companies: An Empirical Analysis

Abstract

Since the occurrence of scandals linked to financial fraud, and since the promulgation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002) in the US, corporate internal control has attracted the attention of companies and governments worldwide. The aim of this study is to investigate the internal control regulatory framework and internal control practices in Mainland China. In the first part, the paper examines the regulations on internal auditing and internal control promulgated in China from 1949, and focuses on the regulation issued in 2008 and currently in force, the Basic Standard for Enterprise Internal Control with its supporting guidelines. The regulation was promulgated jointly by the Ministry of Finance (MOF), the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), the National Audit Office (CNAO), the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) and the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC). The Basic Standard for Enterprise Internal Control became effective for companies listed in Shanghai or Shenzhen and abroad (cross-listed companies) from 2011. From 2012, the regulation came into effect for all companies listed on the main board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. According to the regulation, these companies are required to implement a system of internal control and to disclose a self-assessment report on internal control. The factor that makes the Chinese internal control regulatory framework unique is that firms, when issuing their self-assessment reports on internal control, must disclose also those internal control weaknesses (ICWs) unrelated to financial reporting. The second part of the study reviews the literature and prior research on internal control, by providing a content-related classification system. The third and fourth chapters analyse internal control information disclosure by a sample of companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges and provide empirical evidence of their compliance with the regulation. In addition, the determinants of internal control quality are studied. The data collected from the companies’ annual reports disclosed in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 are used for the calculation of four indicators which were hypothesised to influence internal control quality. The four hypotheses are then compared with the results obtained and with the results obtained by previous researchers. Lastly, the conclusions of this thesis summarize the findings and provide insights for future research.